Pertinence de l'éducation thérapeutique dans le cancer du sein

Abstract

The increase of life expectancy in breast cancer patients has progressively led us to see this pathology as a chronic disorder. We have studied the usefulness of therapeutic patient education (TPE) with respect to this pathology in the light of what is already an established practice in the case of diabetes and asthma. TPE is a range of practices which aims to enable patients to acquire and to retain the ability and necessary skills for an active management of their disease. In breast cancer, from diagnosis through to post-treatment follow-up visits, we offer several approaches to therapeutic education. The physicians and the support team who accompany these patients already supply partial and informal therapeutic education particularly at the moment of diagnosis disclosure. A greater awareness of this situation and specific training would enable healthcare providers to improve their approach and efficacy. Given the specificity of breast cancer, affecting as it does a woman at the very core of her femininity, we would prefer to use the expression "therapeutic accompaniment" rather than "therapeutic education." © Springer-Verlag 2010.