Cancer Survivors in Saint Lucia Deeply Value Social Support: Considerations for Cancer Control in Under-Resourced Communities

Abstract

Understanding the views of cancer survivors on their experience is important for informing community-based interventions. We studied, for the first time, the views of cancer survivors residing in Saint Lucia on their overall care experience. We used interview data from a cohort of adult cancer survivors from Saint Lucia between 2019 and 2020. We performed a thematic analysis to derive themes from codes. Forty-four survivors provided responses to at least one of the three questions. The majority of survivors were black, female and diagnosed with breast cancer. Survivors were interviewed on average five years after diagnosis. Four common themes emerged; "Availability of support groups", "Importance of support from family and friends", "Access to finances" and "Health education and patient navigation". Travel overseas for health services was common among survivors. Survivors expressed emotional distress during travel due to isolation from family and local providers. This is typical among island populations and is distinct from existing patient frameworks. Survivors also suggested that networking amongst providers and interventions assisted families of cancer survivors. Although tertiary care services are limited, we showed that survivors deeply value and depend on their inter-personal relationships during care. Interventions aimed at strengthening the inter-personal environment of survivors are warranted.

Keywords: Caribbean; Saint Lucia; cancer; community health; health disparities; low and middle-income countries; small island developing state; social support.

Figure 1

Venn diagram of significant themes emerging from analysis on the responses from the three open-ended questions. Saint Lucia (West Indies), 2019–2020. Each circle represents an open-ended question; the main themes that emerged are written within. The intersection between each circle represents the themes that were common to each question. Themes common to all three open-ended questions are represented in box 1. Positive: “Was there anything in particular that made your experience easier?”, Negative: “Was there anything in particular that made your experience harder?” and Suggestions: “Do you have any suggestions to help improve the experience for other people in similar circumstances?”. HCP: Health care provider.