A National Virtual Peer Support Group for Women Veterans Living with Breast Cancer: Lessons from the Field

Within the Veteran’s Health Administration (VHA), peer support specialists (PSSs) have traditionally worked in mental health and behavioral health settings. PSS-facilitated cancer support groups are less common and underused in this setting. The purpose of this study was to understand the acceptability, feasibility, and perceived benefits of a PSS-facilitated peer support group for women veterans with breast cancer. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among veteran participants and health system leaders (HSLs) and were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using rapid qualitative analysis. Key findings from interviews with veterans and HSLs emerged across several domains: The value of shared experiences, peer status and “matching”, virtual aspect, group structure, beneficial topics, and desired outcomes. Veteran participants greatly valued the ability to share experiences and connect with other women veterans with breast cancer and shared a desire for the facilitator to be a peer with an overlapping shared lived experience as they described benefits from peer interactions including supportive coping and instrumental coping. Veterans also reflected on the acceptability of the group being virtual, and uncovered attitudes and preferences regarding group structure, beneficial topics, and desired outcomes. HSLs noted that target outcomes might be linked to feeling connected with community and having an increased feeling of support. Findings suggest that cancer support groups, unlike more traditional mental health support groups at the VHA, may require greater specificity regarding programmatic content and PSS-cancer-experience-matching for group experience to feel authentic and meaningful.