Jennifer Deagle and colleagues assess the benefits of a pilot scheme to improve aftercare and support for patients living with active or advanced disease
In 2012, Macmillan Cancer Support partnered with 15 NHS health providers in the UK to fund new ways of delivering supportive care to cancer patients in the community. The project grew out of the work commissioned by the National Cancer Survivorship Initiative to find pathways for supporting people with active or advanced disease. In Southampton, a community-based complex case manager was established to test the assumption that the role could improve health outcomes in a group of patients with specific needs. Those with advanced breast or gynaecological disease were case-managed with the aim of improving self-management and wellbeing. The learning from the pilot can be used to inform the argument for building specialist teams in the community, targeted at people under the age of 75, who are living with cancer as a complex chronic disease.
Cancer Nursing Practice. 15, 2, 22-28. doi: 10.7748/cnp.15.2.22.s20
Correspondence Peer reviewThis article has been subject to double-blind review and has been checked using antiplagiarism software
Conflict of interestThe Macmillan one-to-one project was jointly supported and funded by Macmillan Cancer Support and the Department of Health from 2012-15. The chief author (JD) was seconded from Solent NHS Trust for three years to develop the post of a Macmillan complex case manager. None of the other authors was financially rewarded by this post
Received: 01 December 2015
Accepted: 12 February 2016
or
Alternatively, you can purchase access to this article for the next seven days. Buy now
Are you a student? Our student subscription has content especially for you.
Find out more