Hannah Kang Moran1, Joanna Veazey Brooks2,3, Lori Spoozak4,5,6. 1. University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, USA. 2. Department of Population Health, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS, USA. 3. University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. 4. University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. lspoozak@kumc.edu. 5. Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Kansas School of Medicine, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 2028, Kansas City, KS, 66160-7220, USA. lspoozak@kumc.edu. 6. Division of Palliative Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 2028, Kansas City, KS, 66160-7220, USA. lspoozak@kumc.edu.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance's Woman to Woman (W2W) program is a peer mentorship program for women with gynecological cancer that was founded in 2004 and has expanded to 43 sites nationwide. An initial program survey was conducted in 2013, but no qualitative studies have investigated patient experiences with peer support programs for gynecologic cancer in the USA. This study examines the match experience at one program site. The aim of this qualitative study was to capture mentor and mentee experiences giving and receiving peer support, including how relationships were initiated and developed. METHODS: Hour-long, semi-structured interviews were conducted with both mentors and mentees. Interviews focused on the dynamics of the mentor-mentee relationship. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and open-coded. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to organize findings into themes. RESULTS: Sixteen participants (N = 16) were interviewed (seven mentors and nine mentees.) Three broad themes emerged: (i) pathways to the program; (ii) how connection occurred; and (iii) themes of compatibility. While program participants universally valued their match experience, frequency and mode of communication, as well as expectations of the match relationship were widely divergent among the program participants. CONCLUSION: The W2W peer mentorship program is a valuable resource for patients with gynecologic cancer. Refining the wants and needs of mentees including mode of communication, frequency of communication, type of support desired, identifying topics of mutual interest, and introducing the concept of recurrence may improve the connectivity experienced by mentor-mentee dyads.
PURPOSE: The Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance's Woman to Woman (W2W) program is a peer mentorship program for women with gynecological cancer that was founded in 2004 and has expanded to 43 sites nationwide. An initial program survey was conducted in 2013, but no qualitative studies have investigated patient experiences with peer support programs for gynecologic cancer in the USA. This study examines the match experience at one program site. The aim of this qualitative study was to capture mentor and mentee experiences giving and receiving peer support, including how relationships were initiated and developed. METHODS: Hour-long, semi-structured interviews were conducted with both mentors and mentees. Interviews focused on the dynamics of the mentor-mentee relationship. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and open-coded. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to organize findings into themes. RESULTS: Sixteen participants (N = 16) were interviewed (seven mentors and nine mentees.) Three broad themes emerged: (i) pathways to the program; (ii) how connection occurred; and (iii) themes of compatibility. While program participants universally valued their match experience, frequency and mode of communication, as well as expectations of the match relationship were widely divergent among the program participants. CONCLUSION: The W2W peer mentorship program is a valuable resource for patients with gynecologic cancer. Refining the wants and needs of mentees including mode of communication, frequency of communication, type of support desired, identifying topics of mutual interest, and introducing the concept of recurrence may improve the connectivity experienced by mentor-mentee dyads.
Entities:
Keywords:
Gynecologic cancer; Mentorship; Peer; Qualitative; Support
Authors: Susan K Lutgendorf; Barrie Anderson; Philip Ullrich; Erica L Johnsen; Richard E Buller; Anil K Sood; Joel I Sorosky; Justine Ritchie Journal: Cancer Date: 2002-01-01 Impact factor: 6.860
Authors: Ben Huntingdon; Penelope Schofield; Zahava Wolfowicz; Rebecca Bergin; Donna Kabel; Jennifer Edmunds; Sylvia Penberthy; Ilona Juraskova Journal: Support Care Cancer Date: 2015-07-30 Impact factor: 3.603