Peer Navigator Program A Successful Support For Women With Breast Cancer
California Breast Cancer Research Program Funds Program & Study
Oakland, CA—July 23, 2003—Peer navigator programs that use breast cancer survivors to help newly-diagnosed patients are a positive model for support and outreach, according to initial findings from a study funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP), which provides grants for innovative research to prevent, treat and cure breast cancer.
The study is the first to measure the impact of a peer navigator program for breast cancer and to identify factors that contribute to success. The study, funded by the CBCRP, is a joint partnership between the Psychosocial Treatment Lab at Stanford University and WomenCARE, a well-established women’s health agency in Santa Cruz. The program is designed to improve the quality of life for breast cancer patients by pairing Navigators (breast cancer survivors) and Sojourners (newly diagnosed patients), based on similarities in their disease and treatment plans.
Findings indicate that all women who participate in the program benefit by receiving more, better-organized information than they would without the program. Results also show that the support of a peer counselor during treatment reduces the magnitude of distress or shortens its duration, reduces distress among family members, and improves a patient’s relationships with medical professionals.
“Initial diagnosis is often the time of greatest need for information, but a woman is overwhelmed by shock and trauma, and less likely to absorb or seek out information,” said Caroline Bliss-Isberg, the Co-Principal Investigator from WomenCARE. “Peer Navigators are carefully trained, with the communication skills and judgment to help pace information in a way that can be easily understood.”
“Our funding of this study speaks directly to our belief that communities should be active participants in research about themselves,” said Marion H.E. Kavanaugh-Lynch, M.D., M.P.H., and Director of the CBCRP.
The peer navigator program began two years ago in Santa Cruz County, with women who shared their personal experiences in support groups at WomenCARE and in community-based, patient-focused collaborative meetings. Representing a broad socio-economic, cultural, educational, and ethnic spectrum, all women expressed the same level of need for mentors. These breast cancer survivors brought their ideas and enthusiasm to Stanford, and a joint partnership developed.
The study consists of assessments that are administered to Sojourners at intervals of three, six, and twelve months, to evaluate if peer intervention results in improved quality of life, self-efficacy, doctor-patient communication, and post-traumatic growth, while reducing depression and trauma for the newly-diagnopsed patients. For comparison standards, half of the participants are assigned to the peer navigator program and half receive standard medical care without a peer navigator. In addition, assessments are administered to the Navigators to evaluate how the process impacts them.
The CBCRP
Created by the State Legislature in 1993, the CBCRP is the largest state-funded breast cancer research program in the nation and is administered by the University of California, Office of the President. To date, the CBCRP has awarded 568 grants to 62 scientific institutions and community entities, totaling nearly $150 million for research in California to prevent, treat, and cure breast cancer. Grants from the CBCRP fill gaps not traditionally funded by other research programs, to jump-start new areas of investigation that push the boundaries of research and foster new collaborations. The CBCRP is funded through the Voluntary Tax Check-Off Program on personal income tax form 540, the State tobacco tax, and individual contributions.
For more information call 1.888.313.BCRP, or visit www.cbcrp.org.
