Metastatic/advanced breast cancer:exploration of healthcare provision
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The experience of women with metastatic/advanced breast cancer: a critical exploration of the effectiveness of current service and healthcare provision in meeting women’s needs.
IRAS ID
142556
Contact name
Jo Armes
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London, Guy's Campus
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Not applicable, Not applicable
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 5 days
Research summary
It has been established that the needs of women with metastatic breast cancer are complex and not being consistently met through the provision of effective healthcare. Recently in the UK Reed et al (2012) explored quality of life, experience of care and support needs of women with metastatic breast cancer. The findings pointed to lower quality of life scores compared to other cancer groups for women with metastatic breast cancer, a significant symptom burden with over one third having difficulty with unresolved pain and other uncontrolled symptoms. Equally the Secondary Breast Cancer Taskforce recognized that people with metastatic breast cancer were not receiving the “best possible standard of care” (Breast Cancer Care 2008 p3) and called for research that explored models of care. The National Cancer Survivorship Initiative (2011) also identified this group as a priority. The aim of this study is, therefore, to undertake a comprehensive account of the critical features and components of care and service delivery as experienced by women with advanced/metastatic breast cancer. This will be achieved by exploring the experience of metastatic/advanced breast cancer as they encounter, utilise, interact with the healthcare system. The study intends to address the impact of, and the emotional, social support and information needs of those living with the disease. It intends to explicate the features of care experienced by women, their perspective on its effectiveness and their opinion on the approach that would meet their current and future perceived needs. The study will interview 20-30 women across two cancer centres in order to address the study aims. The study will also identify the implications of study findings for policy, service delivery, nursing practice and research. This study will be the first part of a project which will address the development and evaluation of a practice model for this client group.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 5
REC reference
15/WS/0093
Date of REC Opinion
7 May 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion