An evaluation of a cancer survivorship education class for follow-up care

Abstract

The Wellness Beyond Cancer Program is part of a tertiary care hospital in Ontario, Canada. It provides cancer survivors with information and resources needed to self-manage their follow-up care (i.e., learn relevant information and skills to adapt to life with a chronic illness) after active cancer treatment (i.e., chemotherapy, radiation). A program evaluation was conducted on the two-hour survivorship education class (one component of the overall Wellness Beyond Cancer Program) with the purpose of evaluating whether attendance increased survivors’ perceived knowledge and intent to self-manage follow-up care. Breast (n = 107) and colorectal (n = 38) cancer survivors who attended classes completed questionnaires on information needs and intent to self-manage pre- and postclass. Perceived increase in knowledge and intent to self-manage follow-up care were unrelated to age, gender, or time since diagnosis. After attending the class, survivors reported increased knowledge (F(1,11) = 144.6, p < .001) and intent to participate in self-management of their follow-up care (F(1,103) = 57.3, p < .001). Improvements in knowledge predicted increased intent to self-manage (R2 = .64; F(4,86) =  38.5, p < .001). Colorectal cancer survivors showed greater improvement in intent to self-manage than breast cancer survivors (β = .14, t = 2.2, p < .05). These results can inform the development and implementation of future education classes for survivors.