Background: Breast cancer survivors continue to experience physical and psychosocial health care needs post-treatment. Primary care involvement is increasing as cancer centres move forward with earlier discharge of stable breast cancer survivors to primary care follow-up. Research suggests primary care providers (PCPs) are willing to provide survivorship care but many lack knowledge and confidence to provide evidence-based care. Although clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) exist for follow-up surveillance and certain aspects of survivorship care, no single comprehensive guideline addresses all significant breast cancer survivorship issues encountered in primary care.
Purpose: The purpose of this research was to create a comprehensive clinical practice framework to guide the provision of breast cancer survivorship care in primary care settings.
Methods: This study consisted of an extensive search, appraisal and synthesis of CPGs for post-treatment breast cancer care using a modified Delphi method. Breast cancer survivorship issues and relevant CPGs were mapped to four essential components of survivorship care to create a comprehensive clinical practice framework to guide provision of breast cancer survivorship care.
Results: The completed framework consists of a one-page checklist outlining breast cancer survivorship issues relevant to primary care, a three-page summary of key recommendations and a one-page list of guideline sources. The framework and key guideline recommendations were verified by a panel of experts for comprehensiveness, importance and relevance to primary care.
Conclusions: This framework may serve as a tool to remind PCPs about issues impacting breast cancer survivors, as well as the evidence-based recommendations and resources to provide the associated care.
Keywords: Aftercare; breast neoplasms; nurse practitioners; physicians; practice guideline; primary care; primary health care..
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