Patient Voices Amplified at Poster Sessions During JADPRO Live 2022
By APSHO Staff
Understanding patients’ perspectives on their cancer care is a vital part of providing patient-centered care and can help the health-care team better align treatment with patients’ wishes, values, and needs. Oncology advanced practitioners often build strong partnerships with their patients over multiple visits and are therefore well-positioned to uplift patient and patient advocacy voices and incorporate them into clinical practice.
At JADPRO Live 2022 in Aurora, Colorado, 14 posters in the inaugural APSHO Patient Perspective Poster Track provided invaluable insights on communication, education, symptom management, and caregiver support. Posters addressed a variety of topics, including disease education resources and tools for patients, clinical trial participation, and caregiver support.
Addressing Diversity in Cancer Clinical Trials
Cancer Support Community’s (CSC) Peer Clinical Trials Support Program promotes clinical trial awareness, education, and enrollment among Black and African American cancer patients by matching patients with a professionally trained peer of the same race with experience participating in a cancer clinical trial. A study found that training peer specialists to be knowledgeable and confident in their ability to communicate and support Black and African American cancer patients improved their perceived ability to successfully help patients interested in learning about or enrolling in a cancer clinical trial.
“Results indicate a notable shift to greater perceived knowledge levels for all statements, such as why clinical trials are needed, enrollment barriers, and the benefits of peer support,” commented Susan Ash Lee, MSW, LCSW, SVP, Program and Education, Cancer Support Community.
Empowering Caregivers
One poster focused on engaging caregivers to take an active role in the care of their loved one with cancer. Courage Groups (couragegroups.org), an organization founded to champion the role of the caregiver, collaborated with Cancer Commons (cancercommons.org), a non-profit cancer organization dedicated to improving the lives of people going through cancer. Along with webinars, videos, a communication tool called the “Caregiver Dashboard,” and personalized navigation by a team of oncology nurses and navigators, caregivers have access to a wealth of resources informed by the latest scientific evidence.
“These tools and services will increase a sense of control and mitigate the unnecessary toll on both patient and caregiver,” said Michael A. Looney, PhD, Founder/Facilitator of Courage Groups.
Describing Journeys of African American Women With Breast Cancer
Another poster detailed a qualitative study aiming to address the psychosocial factors experienced by African American women who are breast cancer survivors. Twenty women were recruited to participate in the study through the Tigerlily Foundation, a non-profit breast cancer advocacy organization. The study results showed that African American women breast cancer survivors struggle immensely with body image and self-confidence issues after experiencing breast cancer, various surgeries, and treatments.
“Creating more personalized survivorship care plans between patients, oncologists, and hospital-based social workers can improve psychosocial factors experienced by African American women breast cancer survivors,” commented Virginia Leach, PhD Student, Manager of Research & Writing at the Tigerlily Foundation.
Patients and advocacy partners presented their findings during moderated poster sessions throughout the conference. Posters were available to registered conference attendees via the conference app, a dedicated area for viewing on site, and an e-poster gallery (eventscribe.net/2022/JADPROLive/posters/posterWall.asp) on the JADPRO Live website. This track is made possible by the Founding Supporter, Pfizer Oncology.
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