CanSupport

Project members

Professor Reema Harrison Professor	Dr Bronwyn Newman Research Fellow
Dr Brona Nic Giolla (Honorary)	Associate Professor Judith Johnson (Honorary)

External project members

Dr Ursula Sansom-Daly

Associate Professor Judith Johnson

Collaborators

Canteen, Carers NSW, Neuroblastoma Australia, Redkite

Project contact

Dr Bronwyn Newman
E: bronwyn.newman@mq.edu.au

Project description

Psychosocial support is critical in preparing people for experiencing cancer and for caregiving roles. This program of work seeks to understand and address unmet psychosocial support needs to prepare for the cancer journey among Australians through a series of studies.

Project aims

This project commenced in January 2020 and seeks to:

• Determine the experiences and needs of family-based carers to support people with cancer.
• Identify and evalute the current psychosocial support resources available for key population groups, including family-based carers, adolescents and young adults, and people with intellectual disability.
• Co-design psycho-social support solutions to prepare people for the experience of cancer.

Design and method

This program of work comprises of multiple projects using systematic reviews of relevant literature, qualitative data collection and co-design with consumers. Participants include people experiencing cancer, family-based carers and supporters and psychosocial support service staff.

Findings

Our qualitative work with family-based carers highlights that they play a substantial role in providing care but are not well-prepared psychosocially to assume these roles.

Psychosocial support programs are plentiful but predominantly reactive and respond to specific aspects of caring for people with cancer rather than preparatory programs.

Requirements for the content and implementation of preparatory programs may vary between those caring for young children, young people and adults.

Our systematic review further identified that few psychosocial support resources of any kind are targeted to adolescents and young adults with intellectual disability and that this represents a significant gap.

Publications

1. Ní Shé É, McDonald FEJ, Mimmo L, Ross XS, Newman B, Patterson P, Harrison R. What Are the Psycho-Social and Information Needs of Adolescents and Young Adults Cancer Care Consumers with Intellectual Disability? A Systematic Review of Evidence with Recommendations for Future Research and Practice. Children [Internet]. 2021; 8(12).
2. Harrison R, Raman M, Walpola RL, Chauhan A, Sansom-Daly UM. Preparing for partnerships in cancer care: an explorative analysis of the role of family-based caregivers. BMC Health Services Research. 2021;21(1):620.

Project status

Current

Streams and Centres related to this project

Health Engagement and Equity Research

Centre for Health Systems and Safety Research