Introduction

The Women's Information Network Against Breast Cancer (WIN ABC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Southern California. After years of development, WIN ABC has created the Breast Buddy Breast Care Program, a unique and proven program that will enhance the level of care for breast cancer patients, improve providers' quality of work life and help build a center of excellence for medical facilities.

A multi-faceted, comprehensive program that provides information and Survivor-to-Patient mentoring through decision making, treatment and recovery. Each Breast Buddy volunteer is a survivor, extensively trained to educate and support breast cancer patients.

Recognized by the American Association of Health Plans as an "exemplary practice... and outstanding women's health program that really is making a difference in improving women's health."

Program Overview

The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program includes the following main elements:

A Breast Buddy - A breast cancer survivor trained to provide peer support and information to patients throughout the diagnosis, treatment and recovery process.

A Volunteer Training Curriculum - Part of a unique training program specially developed and designed to address the complex psychosocial and educational needs of the breast cancer patient and the volunteer who supports them.

A Breast Care Coordinator - A dedicated R.N. with extensive expertise and sensitivity to help guide newly diagnosed breast cancer patients through the Breast Buddy Program and connect her to the other services available at the medical center in the community.

A "Survivors' Bag of Books" - Includes an extensive resource guide, educational books and support materials given to each patient upon diagnosis.

Decision-making tools - Interactive computer/video programs ("Be a Survivor" from Lange Productions available in CD Rom and regular video format) to assist patients, their families and friends in learning more about breast cancer and treatment options. Patients and providers receive a printout of information after viewing the program.

A Lending Library - Offering patients books / videos relating to breast cancer, treatment, emotional and psychological aspects, other educational materials.

A "Living Room" / Resource Center - An aesthetically pleasing, comfortable environment for patients, their families and providers. (Houses the decision-making tools and lending library). 

What is the Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program?

The Breast Buddy Program has been designed to meet several strategic clinical goals. Three (3) major goals are to facilitate:

• Informed treatment decisions by patients
• Continuity of care in a patient-friendly environment
• Efficient use of medical staff time.

In simple terms, the Breast Buddy Breast Care Program pairs up newly diagnosed patients with specially trained and carefully selected breast cancer survivor volunteer-mentors. These carefully matched peer support volunteers provide key information to facilitate patients' informed treatment decisions. Each "Breast Buddy" makes a commitment to mentor each newly diagnosed patient throughout the continuum of care -- for the period of up to one year.

The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program builds on the concept that:

1. Provision of peer support and detailed information about treatment options by trained survivor-mentors to patients with newly diagnosed and recurrent breast cancer will improve their satisfaction with medical care and thus

2. Favorably affect the efficiency and quality of physician-patient interactions.
 

3. Enhancing Patient and Provider Satisfaction: a New Paradigm of Care

It has been proven that timely and accurate information about treatment options coupled with empathy and support provided by trained survivor-mentors leads to increased patient satisfaction and perceived enhancement of quality of care. The Breast Buddy Breast Care Program incorporates these key factors resulting in more streamlined, fruitful and satisfying patient-provider interactions and relationships.

When patients are equipped with ready access to the proper health care information and support, they are more likely to make better informed, more prudent utilization and access decisions.

How the Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program Works

The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program provides immediate and sustained state-of-the-art information and peer support for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. The Program is medical center based, ensuring that patients receive the services and remain connected to the Program.

The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program has served as a catalyst in the development of a new, fluid pathway and improved standard of care for breast cancer patients. In such settings of integrated breast cancer care, a great deal of attention can be paid to the spiritual, emotional, educational and of course, the physical aspects of dealing with this life-threatening, life-altering disease. 

The result: a more compassionate, synergistic approach to breast cancer care for patients.

Integrating Existing Resources

• The goal is to create an integrated and seamless system of services that can be sustained.

• Breast Buddies continues to be successful because it is, in large part, a consumer-driven and provider-driven program. Breast Buddies is a very dynamic program. Input from physicians, nurses, patients, volunteers and administrators is ongoing to ensure that the Program remains current, relevant and effective.

• The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program works to strengthen hospital leadership to improve the capacity and functioning of systems that impact breast cancer care.

• As a nationally recognized non-profit organization, WIN Against Breast Cancer brings many resources to the table including years of expertise in the field of breast cancer, access to extensive support and educational materials (bilingual), other relevant community based organizations, numerous in-kind donations and positive, proactive media attention.

Effectively Utilizing a Volunteer Force: an Untapped Resource

• Breast Buddy volunteers are comprehensively trained to provide emotional and informational support to newly diagnosed breast cancer patients throughout the diagnosis, decision-making, treatment and recovery continuum.

• These specially trained volunteers have a primary goal to teach new patients how to navigate medical centers and their health plans with ease. Because our volunteers are recruited from the same medical center as the patients with whom they will be paired to mentor, each "Breast Buddy" knows the health care system well.

• Breast Buddy volunteers also regularly provide breast cancer awareness outreach activities and on-going Program evaluation and feedback.

Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program Evaluation Results *

The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program has received wide acceptance and approval from providers and patients alike. A professional evaluation of the Program was conducted in 1996. To ensure the integrity of the evaluation results, an independent evaluation was carried out by the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region's Research and Evaluation Department of Clinical Services. 

Statistically significant higher satisfaction levels were found for overall care, pre-surgery care, and provision of information and emotional support:
 

Patient Satisfaction Before the Breast Buddy Breast Care Program	Patient Satisfaction After the Breast Buddy Breast Care Program
56%	71%

Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program respondents were virtually identical to other respondents with breast cancer with respect to personal characteristics (e.g., education, race/ethnicity, how their cancer was detected and treatments received) and satisfaction with non-breast cancer care. Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program respondents reported higher levels of satisfaction with breast cancer care and services.

* Source and Reference:
Evaluation of the Breast Buddy Program, Ann Geiger, Ph.D., Diana Petitti, M.D., Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional Department of Research and Evaluation.

Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program Recognition

The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program has received a number of awards and recognitions. Among which are:

• The Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program has been identified as a "best practice model" (Kaiser Permanente, 1997) and is well positioned for implementation at multiple medical sites across the nation.

• The American Association of Health Plans (AAHP) has recently identified the Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program as a new "gold standard" of care. Representing over 1,000 health plans and 130 million health plan members, this recognition has established Breast Buddies as..."an exemplary practice...an outstanding women's health program that really is making a difference in improving women's health..."

Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program Strategic Goals and Outcomes

Patient Satisfaction

1. Improved patient, family and provider satisfaction with all levels of care throughout the treatment continuum: breast cancer screening (mammography, CBE, BSE, etc.); diagnosis; treatment and follow-up care.

2. Increased patient and family member awareness of importance of screening and early detection, including Breast Self-examination (BSE) and mastectomy scar examination, with professional instruction on how to perform proper self-exams.

3. Improved access to breast cancer care and services in a user-friendly setting.

4. Breast Buddies affords each patient "one-stop shopping" in the integrated care, peer support and informational resources the Program offers.

Enhanced Provider Performance and Satisfaction

1. More efficient utilization of physician time while maximizing patient support. Using volunteer patient mentors will extend the productivity of paid staff and clinic time.

2. Improved integration with Primary Care Providers for breast cancer patient management.

3. Enhanced provider awareness of patients' support system at home and at work.

Improved Pathway of Care

1. Integration of the Breast Buddy Program into the cycle of service for breast cancer patients.

2. Facilitation of a multidisciplinary team approach to breast cancer treatment and care.

3. Integration of medical center and community based resources and services.

4. Consistency within departments, across departments and across medical centers regarding 1) the manner in which a breast cancer patient receives the diagnosis and 2) the information that is provided a breast cancer patient upon diagnosis and throughout the treatment continuum.

5. Enhanced awareness of the health care and informational needs of the community-at-large and how those needs are being met or need to be addressed. 

Breast Buddy^® Breast Care Program Endorsements

Breast Buddy Volunteers and Patients Served

"Breast Buddies is one-stop shopping for all your needs."

Gloria Lopez, Survivor-Mentor

"I have another purpose to live, the Breast Buddy Program is my purpose."

Joan Geist, Survivor-Mentor

"This is so healing for me, I get back ten times more than I give."

Joy Petit, Survivor-Mentor

"This group helped me more than anything else since I was first diagnosed."

Christine Sansone, Survivor-Mentor

Program Sites' Health Care Providers

"I don't know what we did before we had Breast Buddies."

Michael Shiffler, MD, Surgeon

"Anyone can do surgery, but only someone who has 'been there' can help a patient get through this."

Blaine Morton, MD. FACS, Surgical Oncologist

"My involvement in the Breast Buddy Program has been the most professionally rewarding experience that I have had in my twenty-three years of nursing."

Laura Ward, RN, CPSN, Breast Care Coordinator

Program Sites' Medical Center Administration

"As a physician practicing over 20 years with Kaiser Permanente, I can tell you Breast Buddies was the right thing for us to do."

Phillip S. Carney Jr. MD, MPH, PIC

"The Breast Buddy Program has enhanced our patient care and given us an excellent reputation within the community."

Larry Oliver, Medical Group Administrator

"Breast Buddies has provided a seamless system of care for our patients."

Patricia Sloman, RN, MS, Department Administrator, General and Plastic Surgery

Last Updated: 06/01/2004

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