[A case management programme for women with breast cancer: results of a written survey of participating medical and non-medical networking-partners].
OBJECTIVE
Breast cancer patients are as a rule in need of a multiple sequential in-patient, day-patient and out-patient permanent treatment. The required care demands a trans-sectoral networking of all multi-professional persons involved in diagnostics, therapies, rehabilitation and aftercare. A method to develop the integration of treatment processes, as well as thereby resulting in increased effectiveness and efficiency, can constitute the concept of case management. A prerequisite for an effective implementation of case management and thus the starting point of the present survey is a well-functioning network encompassing optimal cooperation. Within the framework of the evaluation of the case management-based integrated care model "mammaNetz" for women with mamma carcinoma as a whole and against the background of the potential for innovation and improvement of case management on the one hand as well as the existence of only few empirical data otherwise, the present survey of members of a trans-sectoral network of the service centre was accomplished.


METHODS
Medical and non-medical networking partners of the service centre (N=168) were questioned by regular mail about different aspects of the cooperation. Identical items in both surveys were compared.


RESULTS
The return rate for the medical networking partners is about 59% (n=35), whereby only medical network partners in private practice participated in the survey. For the non-medical networking partners about 60% (n=66) participated. Medical networking partners assess the cooperation with the service centre in reference to the exchange of information slightly more positively (66%) than the non-medical networking partners (59%). Medical networking partners are in significantly more frequent contact with the service centre and see in the cooperation significantly more advantages for their own office/facility (each with p=0.001) than non-medical networking partners. Overall the results suggest that medical as well as non-medical networking partners consider the functioning and the methodical concept of the service centre to be reasonable.


CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of an interdisciplinary process of support for patients with mamma carcinoma necessitates a good cooperation between networking partners, case managers and patients. Within the framework of a follow-up survey with the objective of a deeper process evaluation, non-medical networking partners should be divided into further professional specific subcategories. In this manner interventions that are fitted to specific occupational groups can be derived.
Institut und Poliklinik für Medizinische Psychologie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg. c.buescher@uke.de
C
C
Büscher
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A
Thorenz
A
A
Grochocka
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U
Koch
B
B
Watzke
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D019090:Case Management / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007373:Interinstitutional Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*