Methods: In-depth individual qualitative interviews were conducted. Five Chinese cancer survivors participated in in-depth interviews. Colaizzi’s phenomenological method was used to analyze the interview data. After obtaining ethics approval from York University’s Research Ethics Committee, participants not attending a cancer support group were recruited through an outreach worker at South Riverdale Community Healthcare Centre (SRCHC). Eligibility inclusion criteria include adult cancer survivors whose age was 20 years or more, who can read and speak English or Mandarin, who approached the outreach worker for cancer support group information between 2012 and 2014, but not attend the support group or attended only once or twice. Potential participants were contacted by the outreach worker, who described the study to the participants and emphasized that participation would be confidential, and privacy would be secured. They were informed of their right to disengage from the study at any time without risk. Participants who agreed to join the study signed a consent form and completed a questionnaire on demographic data at the time of the interview. Interviews were conducted by the first author and were carried out at times convenient to participants. Five participants were voluntarily to participate in in-depth interviews. The interview setting was the participants’ home, or a location chosen by the participants for their comfort and safety. Interviews lasted from 60 to 90 minutes and were transcribed verbatim by a research assistant after removing all identifying information. To preserve the anonymity of the participants, we have limited the provision of demographic data, and participants are identified by a number.
Results: Four themes were extracted from the in-depth interviews: “not fit in”, “not satisfied with the information provided”, “tried to be a normal person”, and “lack reliable transportation and convenient scheduling”.
Conclusion: Cancer support groups can improve cancer survivors’ physical and psychosocial outcomes. The services can also help cancer survivors to obtain health related information and connect with professionals and peers. In recognizing the reasons why cancer survivors left support groups, health-care providers need to evaluate and be aware of the needs and difficulties for cancer survivors to attend support groups. They should match cancer survivors with appropriate groups. More language-friendly groups need to be launched, so cancer patients can easily find a suitable one from their neighborhood.