title: Self management pilot study on women with breast cancer: lessons learnt in Malaysia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  With increasing survival rates, breast cancer is now considered a chronic condition necessitating innovative care to meet the long-term needs of survivors. This paper presents the findings of a pilot study on self-management for women diagnosed with breast cancer and their implications for Asian health care providers.
  
  
  METHODS
  A pre-test/ post-test pilot study was conducted to gain preliminary insights into program feasibility and barriers to participation, and to provide justification for a larger trial.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study found the 4 week self-management program feasible and acceptable, with a favourable trend in quality of life. The recruitment barriers ranged from competing medical appointments, uncollaborative health providers, linguistic barriers and social-household concerns. Supporting facilitators identified were family, health professionals and fellow participants ("buddies"). Lessons from the study are discussed with regard to Asian health providers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is preliminary evidence that self management is a workable and potentially useful model even in an Asians entrenched-hierarchical medical model of care. The initial challenge was breaking down barriers in acceptancee of a collaborative stance. A clinical trial is now warranted to gather more evidence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. syloh@um.edu.my
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Yip
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Packer
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Quek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires