The contribution of wellness centres to cancer care: Patient and carer perspectives

What can a third sector organisation provide for people with breast cancer that public health services cannot? Developing support services in response to service evaluation

“…Nearly three-quarters of people who attended a BCH centre lived up to 60 minutes travel away from home, suggesting that they were willing to make a significant journey to access support. However, distance to travel to a BCH centre is likely to be a barrier to some people due to factors such as availability of transport or feeling unwell [22]. Over half of the participants made up to ten visits to a centre, but not all for therapy appointments.…”

“An Ambition to Make People Feel at Home” or “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? Professional stakeholder views of wellness centres in cancer care

“…Patient and caregiver views are not represented in this study which is a limitation. While their views have been the focus of other quantitative (Fitzpatrick & Remmer, ; Haynes et al, ) and qualitative (Williams et al, ) studies on wellness centres, understanding their views on how these centres could be optimised is likely to be important as these centres evolve. While we ensured we interviewed people from regional as well as metropolitan health services and from services with and without wellness centres, all participants were from one state in Australia.…”

“…The small number of studies in the wellness centre area has generally focused on the patient experience, reporting positive experiences regarding engagement with the centres, along with benefits of enhanced feelings of control, coping and support (Fitzpatrick & Remmer, 2011;Furzer et al, 2013;Haynes et al, 2019;Williams et al, 2014). Professional stakeholders also saw these potential benefits for patients.…”

“…() Maggie's Centres can be in the community or co-located with hospitals and are predominantly in the UK. Drawing on the Maggie Centres model, wellness centres offer people with cancer and their families' access to information, education and support in a safe environment (Fitzpatrick & Remmer, 2011;Furzer et al, 2013;Haynes et al, 2019;Williams et al, 2014).…”

“…A qualitative study comprising of interviews with 16 people attending a wellness centre reported that the centre helped patients make sense of their cancer experience, and enabled coping with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer by facilitating comfort and increasing perceptions of personal control (Williams et al, 2014). A survey study of 188 cancer patients and carers attending a regional wellness centre found that the centre's relaxing and non-clinical environment was highly valued, but there were barriers to attendance including parking or feeling unwell (Haynes et al, 2019). In a study on participant views of a wellness centre in Canada, reasons people attended a centre included to improve physical and spiritual strength or fitness, receive psychological support or information.…”