Patients’ satisfaction with a supportive care program for young breast cancer patients in Mexico: Joven & Fuerte supports patients’ needs and eases their illness process

• Published in: Supportive care in cancer 2020-10, Vol.28 (10), p.4943-4951
• Main Authors: Villarreal-Garza, Cynthia, Platas, Alejandra, Miaja, Melina, Mesa-Chavez, Fernanda, Garcia-Garcia, Marisol, Fonseca, Alan, Pineda, Claudia, de la Rosa-Pacheco, Sylvia, Galvez-Hernandez, Carmen L, Bargallo-Rocha, Enrique, Castro, Janeth, Rodriguez-Gomez, David, Cruz-Ramos, Marlid, Mohar, Alejandro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adult; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Breast Neoplasms - therapy; Cancer patients; Care and treatment; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Medical research; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Medicine, Experimental; Mexico; Nursing; Nursing Research; Oncology; Original Article; Pain Medicine; Palliative Care - methods; Palliative Care - psychology; Palliative Care - standards; Patient Education as Topic; Patient Satisfaction; Rehabilitation Medicine; Socioeconomic Factors; Support groups; Surveys and Questionnaires; Womens health; Young adults
• ISSN: 0941-4355; 1433-7339
• DOI: 10.1007/s00520-020-05334-y

Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate patients’ outlook and satisfaction with “Joven & Fuerte: Program for Young Women with Breast Cancer (YWBC) in Mexico” (J&F) and to determine its strengths and areas of improvement to better fulfill patients’ information and supportive care needs. Methods Patients enrolled in J&F for ≥ 6 months at three cancer referral centers were invited via a messaging application to anonymously complete an online survey exploring their perspectives of the program’s information delivery, support services, and research component. Descriptive statistics, chi 2 test, Student t , and ANOVA were used for analysis. Results Of 484 eligible patients, 28% completed the survey. The program overall was useful/very useful according to 97% and aided 82% to better cope with their illness. The timing, clarity, and usefulness of the information provided were each described as good/very good by ≥ 83% for the written format and ≥ 98% for the verbal one. Eighty-four percent of patients were very satisfied (≥ 9/10) with psychological support and genetic assessment. The number of support services used was significantly associated with patients’ perception of J&F’s usefulness. Regarding fertility issues, 45% recalled being informed about preservation strategies and J&F financially supported 27/39 of interested patients. Fifty-eight percent were unaware of J&F’s ongoing research component. Conclusions Patients’ satisfaction with J&F is very high, reflecting that the program is meeting Mexican YWBC’s needs by providing useful information means and support services in a limited-resource setting. Efforts must keep up to guarantee the program’s continuity and advocate for its extension to other oncologic centers.