Implementation of support meetings for patients undergoing outpatient chemotherapy by a multidisciplinary cancer team
Background: Outpatient chemotherapy is a standard treatment for cancer. In nursing care for outpatients, it is important to enhance patients’ self-efficacy. Vicarious experiences that can be gained through interactions with other patients with cancer can be useful for achieving this. While inpatie...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Fujita Medical Society
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Fujita Medical Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/fmj/11/1/11_2024-005/_pdf/-char/ja |
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| Summary: | Background: Outpatient chemotherapy is a standard treatment for cancer. In nursing care for outpatients, it is
important to enhance patients’ self-efficacy. Vicarious experiences that can be gained through interactions with other
patients with cancer can be useful for achieving this. While inpatients can gain vicarious experiences through their
hospital stay, outpatients typically have fewer opportunities to do so.
Aims: This report aimed to examine the results of implementation of support meetings for patients receiving
outpatient chemotherapy.
Methods: Starting in April 2019, support meetings were held once a month for outpatients on Thursdays from 14:00
to 16:00 in a hospital conference room. Medical professionals designed the programme of support meetings to allow
patients to interact with each other and engage in vicarious experiences. At each meeting, satisfaction regarding the
support meeting content was evaluated by self-administered questionnaire. Moreover, the nurse asked all
participants to talk about their interactions, and recorded and extracted narratives about vicarious experiences.
Findings: The 32 participants had a median age (interquartile range) of 63.5 years (55–70 years). There were 26
females (81.2%). The median satisfaction scores ranged from 2.9 to 4 for the content of each meeting. Patients
talked about the value of learning from the experiences of other patients and the easing of loneliness.
Conclusion: The results suggested that support meetings can provide vicarious experiences for patients receiving
outpatient chemotherapy. |
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| ISSN: | 2189-7247 2189-7255 |