Background:
Up to two-thirds of young cancer survivors experience late effects of their cancer treatment, including ongoing psychological and social effects (e.g., post-traumatic stress symptoms, fear of cancer recurrence, social isolation). Research demonstrates that many young survivors feel unprepared to face the survivorship phase of their cancer experience. To address the needs of this cohort, we developed Thrive - a psychosocial support program for survivors aged 18-25. Utilising co-design principles, Thrive’s development benefited from the insights and ideas of young people with a lived survivorship experience.
Aims: To use co-creation principles to design, implement, and evaluate the Thrive survivorship program for 18-25-year-olds, ensuring it is appealing, appropriate, relevant and beneficial for participants.
Methods: Co-creation workshops were held with young adult cancer survivors (aged between 18-25 years) and Canteen staff experienced in working with survivors to understand the physical, developmental, psychosocial, and wellbeing needs and desires of this cohort and design a program that best meets their requirements. Knowledge gained from the workshops, combined with survivorship literature, was triangulated to develop the Thrive program. Twelve participants took part in an exploratory evaluation post-program.
Results: Co-creation workshops uncovered that young adult survivors desired a conference-style program that provided agency and choice regarding sessions, topics and activities available. Workshop participants highlighted the preference for both health/wellness and psychosocial-based topics, and ensuring a highly interactive and informative format. The Thrive program was subsequently designed and piloted, with our initial evaluation uncovering high levels of satisfaction (100% strongly agreed/agreed they were satisfied) and appropriateness (83% strongly agreed/agreed Thrive met their needs).
Conclusion: Incorporating insights from young survivors themselves, Thrive empowers participants by offering agency, choice, and a comprehensive approach covering both health/wellness and psychosocial topics in an interactive and informative format, ultimately fostering a sense of thriving beyond mere survival in the survivorship phase.