The ‘bridge of support’, an innovative program bringing peer support to the hospital setting — ASN Events

The ‘bridge of support’, an innovative program bringing peer support to the hospital setting (#818)

A Amos 1 , H Shepherd 1 , F McRae 1 , J Rigby 1 , B Flanagan 2 , K Shanahan 2 , G B Mann 2 , D Missen 1
  1. Women's Health Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
  2. The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

The Bridge of Support pilot aimed to explore the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of providing peer support in the acute setting for women with breast cancer. The pilot operated from April 2010 to December 2011 and was delivered by trained BreaCan peer support volunteers, all with a personal experience of breast cancer and a minimum of three years experience at BreaCan supported by a BreaCan staff member. A weekly peer support session was provided to the breast service of the Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospitals. 427 contacts were recorded with 191 individuals including 146 women with breast cancer and 45 other people, primarily partners and family members. This represents an estimated reach of 46% of individual women seen by the breast service in the same period. An equitable, accessible service was reflected by 48% of Bridge of Support contacts being with women from non-Main English speaking countries (compared with 17% in Victoria overall). A successful bridge to community-based information and support was demonstrated through 79% of women having further contact with BreaCan including 410 individual contacts (peer support and foot reflexology) and 119 group contacts (information and exercise sessions). Evaluation of the pilot project indicated a high level of satisfaction with the service of women, the peer support volunteers, staff of the breast service and BreaCan staff. Key themes identified were the importance of peer support in normalising experiences; having someone who’s walked a similar path – an understanding, listening ear; providing hope and confidence to commence or continue with treatment. This highly successful acute-community sector partnership demonstrates how the medical and social models of health can work in harmony to provide a connected and high quality service for women. The successful partnership continues and BreaCan is developing a strategy to expand the service to other hospitals in Victoria.