Metrics details. Developing cancer in young adulthood is a non-normative life event and associated with adverse physical, social and psychological consequences.
High psychological distress is common in AYA cancer patients including anxiety, depression or fear of recurrence. At the same time, it is well known that AYA often report unmet needs for support, particularly in terms of informational exchange and emotional support from peers in order to benefit from shared experiences and enhance self-efficacy. Especially in the AYA group, interactions with other same-aged cancer patients may represent an essential resource in terms of coping with the disease, as family members and friends are often overwhelmed and struggling with helplessness.
Currently, there is a lack of professional support services using peer support e. Our aim is to assess the effectiveness of the Peer2Me intervention for AYAs, in which acute patients mentees are accompanied by an AYA survivor mentor over a period of three months.
A sample of patients in active cancer treatment aged 18 to 39 years will be enrolled and randomized to the intervention or control condition a single AYA-specific consultation. Following mentor training, mentees and mentors are matched by diagnosis, age, and gender. The primary outcome is self-efficacy; secondary outcomes include measures of anxiety, depression, health literacy, life satisfaction and social support life.
Outcomes will be measured at baseline before the intervention t1 , immediately after completion of the three-month intervention t2 and three months after completion the intervention t3. For the final analyses, we will use an intention-to-treat approach ITT and compare patients in the assigned treatment groups. Peer2Me might be an important addition to existing professional psychosocial support services for young cancer patients.
