Mapping Support-Seeking After Cancer Treatment: A Co-Designed Model of Triggers, Timing and Support Pathways in Young People with Lived Experience of Cancer

Post cancer treatment, many young people often live with ongoing emotional, social, and physical difficulties, but support is not always accessed when it is needed. This study aimed to co-produce a conceptual model of support-seeking after cancer treatment with young people with lived experience of cancer, to better understand the triggers, timing, and pathways influencing engagement with support. This co-design work, informed by Bird et al.’s generative framework for co-production, built upon a prior study involving interviews and co-design workshops with young people and healthcare/allied health professionals, and informed a preliminary model of support-seeking. The current work involved two further co-production stages through an online survey and workshop to refine this model. Data were analysed using a thematic approach to support conceptual model development. Four interconnected themes shaped support-seeking: (1) readiness to engage: recognition, emotional readiness, and relational safety; (2) access and appraisal of support: visibility, fit, feasibility, and burden; (3) pathways to support: multi-modal, layered, and non-linear engagement; and (4) support trajectory: changing needs and recurrent engagement. Engagement in support-seeking depended on the alignment of readiness, recognition of need, and relational safety. This model offers a framework to improve how post-treatment support is designed and delivered in practice.