Giese-Davis Janine, Bliss-Isberg Caroline, Carson Kristin, Star Path, Donaghy Jessica, Cordova Matthew J, Stevens Nita, Wittenberg Lynne, Batten Connie, Spiegel David
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, CA, USA.
Psychooncology. 2006 Nov;15(11):1014-22. doi: 10.1002/pon.1037.
Women with breast cancer express the greatest need for counseling at the time of diagnosis and report that the intervention they want is to be able to speak with someone who has the same cancer, but has lived through the crisis of treatment and is leading a 'normal' life. We conducted an observational study of a 6-month peer-counseling intervention testing outcomes for both newly diagnosed women (Sojourners) and peer counselors (Navigators) as a first step toward the goal of validating a peer navigator program. Significant improvement in the Sojourners was observed in trauma symptoms, emotional well-being, cancer self-efficacy, and desire for information on breast cancer resources. Navigators maintained baseline levels of the outcome variables, but increased in dissatisfaction with their interactions with their medical team and increased emotional suppression. Our findings indicate that peer navigation may halt a decline in quality of life that is commonly found in the first year following breast cancer diagnosis. In addition, Navigators were not adversely affected by their experience; however, careful training and supervision of Navigators is crucial to overall success. Randomized clinical trials are needed to demonstrate the efficacy of peer navigator programs.
乳腺癌女性在诊断时表达了对咨询的最大需求，并报告说她们希望得到的干预是能够与患有相同癌症但已度过治疗危机并过着“正常”生活的人交谈。作为朝着验证同伴导航计划这一目标迈出的第一步，我们对一项为期6个月的同伴咨询干预进行了观察性研究，测试新诊断女性（旅居者）和同伴咨询师（导航员）的结果。在旅居者中，创伤症状、情绪健康、癌症自我效能感以及对乳腺癌资源信息的需求都有显著改善。导航员保持了结果变量的基线水平，但对与医疗团队互动的不满增加，情绪压抑也增加。我们的研究结果表明，同伴导航可能会阻止乳腺癌诊断后第一年常见的生活质量下降。此外，导航员并未因其经历而受到不利影响；然而，对导航员进行仔细的培训和监督对整体成功至关重要。需要进行随机临床试验来证明同伴导航计划的有效性。
