How Cancer Online Support Groups Work, for Whom, and in What Circumstances: Realist Review

Jacqueline L Bender   ^{1, 2} , PhD ;   Sarah Scruton   ¹ , MSc ;   Geoff Wong   ³ , MD, PhD ;   Lauren R Squires   ^{1, 2} , MSc ;   Stephanie Babinski   ¹ , MA, MPH ;   Marina Englesakis   ⁴ , MLIS ;   Alaina Cyr   ⁵ , MSc ;   Henry Potts   ⁶ , PhD ;   Andrea Tricco   ^{2, 7} , PhD ;   Richard Wassersug   ⁸ , PhD ;   Mary Jane Esplen   ⁹ , PhD ;   Victoria J Forster   ¹⁰ , PhD ;   Olga Perski   ^{11, 12} , PhD ;   Holly O Witteman   ¹³ , PhD ;   Charlene Soobiah   ² , MSc ;   Janet Papadakos   ^{2, 14} , PhD ;   Colleen Young   ¹⁵ , BA ;   Colleen Fox   ¹⁶ , MSc

¹ Cancer Rehabilitation and Survivorship, Department of Supportive Care, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada

² Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

³ Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

⁴ Library and Information Services, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada

⁵ Patient Education and Engagement, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada

⁶ Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education, University College London, London, United Kingdom

⁷ Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St.Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

⁸ Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

⁹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

¹⁰ Women's College Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

¹¹ Faculty of Social Sciences and Herbet Wertheim School of Public Health, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

¹² Human Longevity Science, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States

¹³ Faculté de médicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, QC, Canada

¹⁴ Cancer Education Program, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada

¹⁵ Health Education and Content Services, Mayo Clinic Hospital, Rochester, MN, United States

¹⁶ Ontario Health, Toronto, ON, Canada