Psychoeducation for Cancer Survivors in a Clinical Setting during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Background/Purpose: Provision of education about selfmanagement to cancer survivors is a critical component of quality survivorship care and may improve survivors' ability to understand common/distressing symptoms, learn self-management strategies, and improve quality-of-life. Traditionally, education about psychosocial issues has occurred in clinical settings via in-person meetings with health care professionals. However, social-distancing restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in hospital settings, have significantly limited survivors' access to educational experiences. Methods: To address this issue, members of a survivorship center at a large healthcare system developed and delivered a 3-part series of psychoeducational webinars for cancer survivors addressing 1) Health Behaviors, 2) Mental Health, and 3) Long-term Late-Effects. Each webinar was 1-h long and offered at time deemed convenient for survivors based on pre-seminar surveys administered to 50 survivors inquiring about preferences for webinar content, format, length, and timing. All sessions were delivered via password-enable Zoom meetings, which were recorded and posted online, allowing attendees to review sessions and reach those who were unable to attend original presentations. Results: The virtual webinars were attended by 19, 18, 25 (total = 62) survivors respectively. A post-webinar survey was completed by 15 attendees (breast = 4, colorectal = 3, gynecological = 1, healthcare professional = 4, and other = 3). Most attendees were within 5 years of their diagnosis (94%), over the age of 50 (80%), and female (95%). Results of the survey indicated that attendees felt the Zoom platform was acceptable (100%), information was helpful (75%), well-organized (75%), and speakers were knowledgeable (75%). Importantly, attendees indicated they learned important survivorship self-management skills (90%). Conclusions and Implications Results indicate survivors were satisfied with the format, content, and speakers, and learned important survivorship skills. However, respondents also suggested allowing more time for the sessions (90 vs. 60 min) and for Q and A. Future efforts will focus on attracting more, diverse attendees, increasing the length of the webinars, including patient/survivor/ advocate presenters, and adding new topics.