Supporting health and wellness of people diagnosed with breast cancer: National implementation of the EMPOWER-SMS text message program into community-based services

The EMPOWER-SMS program was co-designed with extensive input from people diagnosed with breast cancer, health care professionals and researchers. It was designed to deliver advice about staying well and weblinks to free resources. EMPOWER-SMS has been pilot tested in a clinical trial and a community-based implementation study, which involved more than 1000 people with a breast cancer diagnosis from socioeconomically diverse backgrounds. Participants found EMPOWER-SMS to be useful, acceptable, and motivating for health management.

As an exciting next step, EMPOWER-SMS will be integrated into Breast Cancer Network Australia’s (BCNA) helpline services to deliver accessible support to priority populations, including people in regional, rural, and remote locations. In addition, EMPOWER-SMS will be adapted for specific priority population groups such as First Nations people and people with metastatic breast cancer. For this project, you will lead a mixed-methods evaluation of this implementation. Key tasks you will be responsible for include:

• Determining how EMPOWER-SMS can be implemented as ‘business as usual’ into BCNA’s helpline services for people from regional, rural and remote locations; this will include using implementation science frameworks to identify barriers and enablers to implementation, and forming strategies to overcome barriers and/or leverage enablers.
• Understanding the preferences of priority populations such as First Nations and those with metastatic breast cancer to adapt EMPOWER-SMS to fit their needs. You’ll use adaptation frameworks, focus groups, surveys and feasibility testing.