Cancer-Related Lymphedema Management: Development of Patient Education Resources

Abstract

Lymphedema education following cancer surgery helps patients feel more empowered to perform their own self-care. This may lead to fewer lymphedema symptoms postoperatively resulting in an overall improvement in the patient's quality of life. We identified a need for written comprehensive postoperative lymphedema patient education at our institution. We created the educational resources with the help of a multidisciplinary team and these resources are currently being provided to the patients during their visit to our lymphedema clinic. Plastic and breast oncology nurses, a plastic surgeon specializing in lymphedema management, physical therapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, a patient education specialist, two affiliated medical artists, and marketing and language services personnel engaged in an 18-month collaborative effort to create a variety of patient education resources. The created resources included surgical and therapeutic information, nutrition and dietary guidelines, postoperative exercises, diagnostic testing and imaging information, facility services, glossary of terms, web resources, and a personalized treatment guide for the patient.