Stories of Young Breast Cancer Survivors: Support and Education Through Social Media

Authors:

Silvia Gisger-Camata, University of Alabama at Birmingham
Timiya Nolan, The Ohio State University
Jacqueline Vo (Presenter)
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Karen Meneses, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Public Health Statement: Approximately 11% of women are diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age (before 45 years). Young breast cancer survivors (YBCS) have unique survivorship concerns including managing work, children and family relationships, and sexuality. Nearly 80% of young adults use social media. SurviveAL is the Gulf States Young Breast Cancer Survivorship Network division in Alabama. SurviveAL establishes web- and social media-based education/support resources for YBCS, including Survivorship Video Series disseminated via Facebook and YouTube.

Purpose: To describe dissemination of age-specific education/support to YBCS via survivorship videos using social media platforms.

Methods/Approach: SurviveAL collaborated with University of Alabama at Birmingham Digital Media to develop and assess videos in five steps—

1. Evaluated YBCS’ preferred format, content, and length of videos to design a template.
2. Conducted video-recorded individual interviews of YBCS.
3. Thematically grouped data into coherent vignettes on survivorship topic.
4. Iteratively produced videos based on the template.
5. Evaluated video views and likes on Facebook and YouTube.

Results: Ten YBCS reported preferring engaging, short videos about their survivorship. Seven multiracial YBCS described their stories informing seven videos: two survivor features (A Survivorship Story) and five age-specific topics (Dealing with Cognitive Changes, Dealing with Negative Emotions, Support and Survivorship, and Your Body Image). Between April 2016 and March 2017, videos were accessed via Facebook (3,307 views; 53 shares; 37 likes) and YouTube (1,085 views; 19 likes).

Conclusions/Implications: The videos provided age-specific aspects of survivorship and needed education/support tailored to YBCS’ preferences. Future directions include production of additional videos and implementing strategies to increase dissemination.