Aims
Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) diagnosed with cancer face challenges in pursuing education and employment, leading to long-term declines in their QoL. Existing evidence-based education and career services (ECS) are limited. This study employs the participatory Intervention Mapping (IM) approach to collaboratively develop a service delivery framework for an ECS for a community-based youth cancer care organisation.
Methods
An integrative literature review and a cross-sectional survey of 82 AYA service users (mean age=21 years;) were conducted to understand AYA education and career support needs. Key stakeholders, including health professionals and consumers, engaged in a series of eight co-design workshops that covered the six IM steps. These steps included conducting a needs assessment, defining service goals and principles, and planning program design, implementation, and evaluation.
Results
Compared to their same-age peers, a smaller proportion of AYA were fully engaged in education (66%) or employment (81%). Nearly two-thirds of AYA reported altering their education (65%) and employment (57%) goals due to cancer, citing physical, emotional, and cognitive impacts as barriers to goal achievement. The identified aims of the ECS were to provide support for AYA in achieving and sustaining personally-meaningful education and employment after a cancer diagnosis. Eight guiding principles were adapted from the Individual Placement Support model for AYA diagnosed with cancer. The recommended ECS features include providing AYAs with information on cancer impacts, career counseling, and support in pursuing education and career goals. The service will encompass information resources, group skills programs, and career and peer mentoring.
Discussion
The findings strongly support the need for specialised ECS support for AYA with cancer diagnoses. The proposed service delivery framework will be implemented within a community-based youth cancer organization and evaluated to assess its impact on AYAs' engagement in education and employment and its effects on their long-term quality of life.