Preliminary Findings of Focus Group Analysis to Support the Needs of Adolescent and Young Adult Patients and Survivors of Cancer: Steps Toward a National Adolescent and Young Adult Supportive Care Program

Peer2Me - evaluation of a peer supported program for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients: study protocol of a randomised trial using a comprehensive cohort design

BACKGROUND

Developing cancer in young adulthood is a non-normative life event and associated with adverse physical, social and psychological consequences. High psychological distress is common in AYA cancer patients including anxiety, depression or fear of recurrence. At the same time, it is well known that AYA often report unmet needs for support, particularly in terms of informational exchange and emotional support from peers in order to benefit from shared experiences and enhance self-efficacy. Especially in the AYA group, interactions with other same-aged cancer patients may represent an essential resource in terms of coping with the disease, as family members and friends are often overwhelmed and struggling with helplessness. Currently, there is a lack of professional support services using peer support (e.g. psycho-oncological support, aftercare consultations, social legal counselling) or evaluated peer support interventions in Germany. Our aim is to assess the effectiveness of the Peer2Me intervention for AYAs, in which acute patients (mentees) are accompanied by an AYA survivor (mentor) over a period of three months.

METHODS

A prospective Comprehensive Cohort Design with repeated measures will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of Peer2Me for AYA. A sample of 180 patients in active cancer treatment aged 18 to 39 years will be enrolled and randomized to the intervention or control condition (a single AYA-specific consultation). Following mentor training, mentees and mentors are matched by diagnosis, age, and gender. The primary outcome is self-efficacy; secondary outcomes include measures of anxiety, depression, health literacy, life satisfaction and social support life. Outcomes will be measured at baseline before the intervention (t1), immediately after completion of the three-month intervention (t2) and three months after completion the intervention (t3). For the final analyses, we will use an intention-to-treat approach (ITT) and compare patients in the assigned treatment groups.

DISCUSSION

Peer2Me might be an important addition to existing professional psychosocial support services for young cancer patients. At the end of the study, a psycho-oncological intervention for young cancer patients undergoing acute treatment should be available, from which both mentors and mentees could benefit. The long-term continuity of Peer2Me should be ensured through collaboration with different partners.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The study was retrospectively registered on February 4, 2022 at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05336318).

Adolescent Young Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Survivors Develop Innovative Solutions for Unmet Needs

Adolescent young adult (AYA) cancer survivors continue to have substantive unmet needs. Literature and insights from a task force of survivors, caregivers, and survivor advocates convened by Servier Pharmaceuticals indicate desires for peer created and provided support. This secondary data analysis of information from the task force identified unmet needs in five domains and solutions explored for four prioritized needs. Ultimately, four actionable solution concepts were selected by the task force for further development. Through their work, many key insights about including survivors in creating solutions and the many approaches for best serving AYAs with cancer were revealed.

The Transformation of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncological and Supportive Care in Canada: A Mixed Methods Study

Background: Due to ongoing disparity in the specialized care available to adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer, this study aimed to understand the gaps and barriers to accessing care and preferences on types of solutions at a national Canadian level. Methods: A mixed-methods study involving an online survey and focus groups (FGs) was conducted among AYAs residing in different regions of Canada. Results: There were a total of 174 survey respondents, of whom the majority were between 30–39 years of age (n = 125, 71.8%). Of the 174 respondents, 36 (20.7%) participated in one of seven FGs. Triangulation of the results illustrated that AYAs are not appropriately informed about the long-term health risks of being treated for cancer and where/how to seek support. These results culminated into three themes: (1) the need for AYA relevant and timely information about health risks; by (a) producing health risk-related content with the AYA life stage in mind; (b) providing a guided “map” to help AYAs anticipate what they may experience, and (c) providing checklists to help AYAs navigate their experience; (2) need for tailored and timely supportive care including (a) establishing ongoing check-ins and (b) receiving navigation support, and (3) need for enhanced connections by creating (a) a space to gather, connect and seek mentorship and (b) a hub to access information. Conclusion: AYAs continue to lack sufficient support both during and following cancer and mechanisms are required to ensure longitudinal support is provided across jurisdictions and in all stages of the cancer journey.