Role, Resources, and Integration of Accompanying Patients in Oncology: A Qualitative Study from the Accompanying Patient's Perspective.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In response to the growing emotional support needs of patients in oncology, peer support was introduced into clinical teams in Quebec, Canada, in 2018. These peers, called accompanying patients (APs), are former cancer patients who use their experiential knowledge to provide support to patients during their oncology journey. This paper aims to identify APs' perceptions of the program by including a diversity of perspectives. We include inexperienced and experienced APs, APs in different facilities, and APs in different cancer programs.

Methods

We conducted a qualitative study based on 12 semi-structured interviews of APs between June and August 2024 in Quebec, Canada. We explored four themes, building on the Practice Change Model for qualitative analysis: APs' sou

SUBMITTER: Kang-Auger S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12840174 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature