The use of survivorship care plans by female racial and ethnic minority breast cancer survivors: a systematic review

PURPOSE: Racial/ethnic breast cancer survivorship disparities persist as minority breast cancer survivors (MBCSs) report fragmentation in survivorship care, namely in the access and delivery of survivorship care plans (SCPs). To better understand care coordination of MCBS, this review elucidated concerns of female MBCS about their preparation for post-treatment survivorship care, the preferred practices for the delivery of a SCP, and the associated content to improve post-treatment survivorship care understanding. METHODS: A systematic search of articles from PubMed, Ovid-Medline, CINAHL databases, and bibliographic reviews included manuscripts using keywords for racial/ethnic minority groups and breast cancer survivorship care coordination terms. Salient themes and article quality were analyzed from the extracted data. RESULTS: Fourteen included studies represented 5,854 participants and over 12 racial/ethnic groups. The following themes of post-treatment MBCS were identified from the review: (1) uncertainty about post-treatment survivorship care management is a consequence of sub-optimal patient-provider communication; (2) access to SCPs and related materials are desired, but sporadic; and (3) advancements to the delivery and presentation of SCPs and related materials are desired. CONCLUSIONS: Representation of only 14 studies indicates that the MBCSs’ perspective post-treatment survivorship care is underrepresented in the literature. Themes from this review support access to, and implementation of, culturally tailored SCP for MBCS. There was multi-ethnic acceptance of SCPs as a tool to help improve care coordination. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: These findings highlight the importance of general education about post-treatment survivorship, post-treatment survivorship needs identification, and the elucidation of gaps in effective SCP delivery among MBCS.