A Self-Help Guided Psychoeducational Intervention for Indonesian Women with Breast Cancer Symptoms: Development and Pilot Feasibility Study

Document Type : Research Articles

Authors

1 Department of Educational Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia.

2 Department of Clinical, Neuro-and Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

3 Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia.

4 Department of Surgical Oncology, Hasan Sadikin Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia.

5 Department of Psychiatry, section Medical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: Delay in the diagnosis of breast cancer (BC) may lead to an advanced stage of the disease and a
poor prognosis. A psychoeducational intervention can be crucial in helping women with BC symptoms complete the
examination procedures and reduce diagnosis delay of BC. Objective: To develop a psychoeducational intervention
to reduce the delay of BC diagnosis among Indonesian women with BC symptoms. Methods: The development of
the intervention included an inventory of crucial elements in developing psychoeducation through literature review as
well as consultation with BC patients and healthcare providers. Additionally, we developed PERANTARA as the first
pilot version of the self-help guided psychoeducational intervention. PERANTARA is an abbreviation for “Pengantar
Perawatan Kesehatan Payadura”, which means an introduction to breast health treatment. The pilot feasibility study
combined an expert review and a pilot testing in hospital settings. A semi-structured interview and the client satisfaction
inventory were utilized to measure feasibility and acceptability of the intervention for Indonesian women with BC
symptoms. Results: PERANTARA contained an oncologist’s explanation about BC and the BC survivors’ testimony
to reduce the time to diagnosis. The pilot study results showed that most patients were satisfied with and trusted on
PERANTARA. Conclusion: PERANTARA was feasible and acceptable for Indonesian patients with BC symptoms.
The development framework suggested in this study can be applied to develop psychoeducational packages for other
patients group, in particular, those interventional packages aimed at reducing diagnosis and treatment delays and nonadherence.

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