Cathriona Kearns - Breast Cancer
Name: Dr Cathriona Kearns
Job Title/Professional Qualifications: MSCA/IRC Research Fellow, PhD MRSB, Committee steering group member for PCVR July 2018-February 2020, Community Network subcommittee member, 01/03/2020 to present.
Contact:
• Email: (opens in a new window)cathriona.kearns@ucd.ie / (opens in a new window)cmckenna40@qub.ac.uk
• Twitter: @CathrionaK1
• LinkedIn: (opens in a new window)www.linkedin.com/in/cathriona-kearns-17b5a44
• ORCID iD: (opens in a new window)https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4793-353X
Project Title: Breast Cancer Treatment & Aftercare Plan - A Participatory Approach to Designing a Breast Cancer Treatment and Survivorship Care Plan for Ireland.
Research Outline
Globally, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death in women. Treatments can be debilitating for patients, often resulting in serious and sometimes long-term complications. Medical decisions are weighed against the likely effects on the patient’s quality of life and treating the disease.
The optimal structure for a breast cancer treatment and survivorship plan (BCTSP) has not been defined in Ireland. We co-designed a breast cancer treatment and survivorship care plan to aid clinical discussions, patient decision making, and coordination of aftercare to be piloted in the clinic. With the breast cancer community, we produced a novel style prototype plan. It is now being tested at clinics to confirm its utility for both patients and healthcare providers. The tool will aid follow-up care and improve communications between teams and patients. The result is a simplified personal health record and means of documenting patients’ diagnosis and treatment along with their follow-up care that is tailored to their needs.