Purpose-The primary purpose was to test the effectiveness of two telephone-delivered psychosocial interventions for maintaining and improving quality of life (QOL) (psychological, physical, social, and spiritual well-being) among 71 prostate cancer survivors and the 70 intimate or family partners who were supporting them in their recovery.Methods-This study used a three-wave repeated measures experimental design. Both the interpersonal counseling intervention (TIP-C) and health education attention condition (HEAC) were delivered using the telephone.Results-Improvements in depression, negative affect, stress, fatigue, and spiritual well-being were significantly higher for survivors in the HEAC than for those in the TIP-C condition. Partners in the HEAC condition showed significantly greater improvements in depression, fatigue, social support from family members, social well-being, and spiritual well-being compared to partners in the TIP-C condition. The results revealed superior outcomes for those assigned to the HEAC intervention.Correspondence to: Terry A. Badger, tbadger@nursing.arizona.edu. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptQual Life Res. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2012 August 1. NIH-PA Author ManuscriptNIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptConclusions-The psychosocial interventions in this study were effective in maintaining or improving the QOL for prostate cancer survivors and their partners. Both the survivor and their intimate partner or family member benefitted from the interventions. Future research is needed to determine the optimal timing and client characteristics for each intervention. KeywordsPsychosocial interventions; QOL; Prostate cancer; Intimate partner; Family membersIn 2010, 217,730 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer [1]. With early diagnosis, prostate cancer is highly treatable, reflected in 5-year survival rates of almost 99%. As the death rate from cancer declines, the number of people living with prostate cancer continues to increase. The significant numbers of prostate cancer survivors and their families emphasize the need for increased attention to survivorship and quality of life (QOL) (psychological, physical, social, and spiritual well-being) [2,3]. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of two psychosocial interventions to improve the QOL for men with prostate cancer and their intimate partners or family social network members (all called "partners" in this study).Psychological distress in men with prostate cancer can negatively influence QOL during cancer treatment. The incidence of clinically significant levels of depression and anxiety in prostate cancer survivors has been reported as 16 and 12%, respectively [4], which is higher than population norms for older males. For prostate cancer patients on Androgen Deprivation Therapy, the risk of major depressive disorder is 8 times the national rate for men and 32 times the rate for those over age 65 [5]. Depression is associated with decreased compliance with adjuvant therapy and a ...

Prior research has established clear links between social support, loneliness, and various health outcomes. This study was designed to test several theoretically derived explanations for such associations. A survey of 265 adults ages 19-85 years was conducted with measures of social support, loneliness, stress, health behaviors, and general health. Results showed that loneliness was more strongly associated with number of close relationships than with sheer contact with social network members. Further, loneliness mediated the association between social support and better health. In addition, health behaviors, especially poor sleep and medical adherence, mediated the association between loneliness and poor health. These results provide confirmation of theoretical mechanisms postulated to explain why loneliness is associated with poor health.

During the long-call shift medical residents experience a number of stressors that could compromise the quality of care they provide to their patients. The aim of this study was to investigate how perceived stress and burnout affect changes in empathy over the long-call shift and how those changes in empathy are associated with patient-centered communication practices. Residents (n=93) completed self-report measures of stress, burnout, and empathy at the start of their long-call shift and then completed measures of empathy and patient-centered communication at the end of the same shift. There was a significant decline in physician empathy from the beginning to the end of the long-call shift. Perceived stress was significantly associated with higher burnout, which was, in turn, significantly associated with declines in empathy from pre- to posttest. Declines in empathy predicted lower self-reported patient-centered communication during the latter half of the shift. This study suggests that residents who perceive high levels of stress are at risk for burnout and deterioration in empathy toward their patients, both of which may compromise the quality of their interactions with patients.

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Objective We examined selected survivor characteristics to determine what factors might moderate the response to two psychosocial interventions. Design Seventy-one prostate cancer survivors were randomly assigned to either a telephone-delivered health education (THE) intervention or a telephone-delivered interpersonal counseling (TIP-C) intervention. Measures Psychological QOL outcomes included depression, negative and positive affect, and perceived stress. Results For three of the psychological outcomes (depression, negative affect and stress), there were distinct advantages from participating in THE. For example, more favorable depression outcomes occurred when men were older, had lower prostate specific functioning, were in active chemotherapy, had lower social support from friends and lower cancer knowledge. Participating in the TIP-C provided a more favorable outcome for positive affect when men had higher education, prostate specific functioning, social support from friends and cancer knowledge. Conclusion Unique survivor characteristics must be considered when recommending interventions that might improve psychological QOL in prostate cancer survivors. Future research must examine who benefits most and from what components of psychosocial interventions to enable clinicians to recommend appropriate psychosocial care.