New breast cancer skills program for patients released by American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons (ACS) Surgical Skills Patient Education Program has launched a new kit for breast cancer patients that will help guide them from diagnosis to recovery. The ACS Surgical Skills Patient Education Program provides evidence-based knowledge, checklists, and skills training to support patients with preparation for surgery and optimal recovery.
Your Breast Cancer Surgery program explains, demonstrates, and provides directed learning experiences and practice opportunities through written guides, videos, and interactive tools to fill a critical gap in information patients need for self-care following surgery. Given in advance of surgery, it affords patients the opportunity of repetitive practice, and the confidence to actively participate in their pre- and postoperative care. The guide acts as a way to introduce patients to their own care beginning with diagnosis and following the patient through follow-up care. It was developed to give patients the knowledge and confidence to actively participate in their own care.
Women often feel ill-prepared both physically and emotionally to manage their breast cancer care and do not have the information they need to make the best treatment decisions for themselves. According to a 2019 Journal of the American College of Surgeons article, only 47 percent of breast cancer patients feel completely informed about their operations.* Surgeons are crucial in providing evidence-based information that meets a patient’s level of understanding and patients believe that their surgeons are their most trusted source of this information.
“With breast cancer, there’s so much information out there. Sometimes it’s not accurate, and other times it may be accurate, but it isn’t designed for patients,” said Jill Dietz, MD, FACS, chief transformation officer and director of breast growth and strategy, Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA; Chair, National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC) Standards and Accreditation Committee; and member, Your Breast Cancer Surgery Program Task Force.
Based on standards issued by the American Physical Therapy Association, the American Society of Breast Surgeons, the Commission on Cancer and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, the program contains helpful resources to guide patients through each step of their surgical preparation, procedure, and recovery, including:
· Understanding their breast cancer
· Explaining tests and exams
· Preparing for and understanding the operation
· Healing and recovering from surgery
· Planning for breast reconstruction
· Considering other therapies beyond surgery
· Living a healthy life after surgery
The importance of patient-centered care has become increasingly recognized as a critical element of modern health care, and the need for evidence-based patient education is particularly important in the multidisciplinary treatment that breast cancer patients require. However, the ACS recognized that the surgical component was not being fully addressed for patients.
“There is a lot of available breast cancer information on radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other new therapies, but until now, nothing that takes a patient through the entire experience of undergoing surgery,” said Nancy Strand, MPH, RN, Senior Manager, ACS Patient Education. According to Kathleen Heneghan, PHD, RN, PN-C, Assistant Director, ACS Surgical Patient Education, “There are many organizations that guide breast cancer patients through their treatments, but when it comes to surgery, they mainly say, ‘Surgery is an option for your treatment’ and might list possibilities like a lumpectomy procedure without any detail on how patients can plan and participate in their care.”
