Meeting the information needs of women with breast cancer: Piloting a nurse-led intervention

Abstract

This study evaluated a telephone intervention, administered by specialist breast care nurses, that aimed to meet the information needs of women with breast cancer. The intervention was developed from previous work that examined priority information needs. Participants were allocated to a telephone intervention (n = 67) or control group (n = 68). Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with participants at two time points (3 months and 8-12 months post-diagnosis) and focused on patient satisfaction with sources of information, information needs and psychological morbidity. Interviews were also conducted with breast care nurses to ascertain their views on administering the intervention. The intervention group reported fewer physical problems at Time 2 and were more likely to have had their information needs met than women in the control group. The control group were more likely to utilise media sources of information at Time 2 whereas women in the intervention group reported breast care nurses as their most prominent source of information. There were no significant differences in psychological morbidity between the two study groups. The findings indicate that the intervention is a feasible and acceptable approach to meeting the information needs of women with breast cancer. Further research is required to evaluate the intervention in a randomised controlled trial.