Cancer patient utilisation of psychological care in Germany: The role of attitudes towards seeking help

Abstract

Objective Even if significantly distressed, many patients with cancer do not seek psychological help. There is growing evidence that attitudes are central barriers for help‐seeking, and instruments to assess cancer patients’ attitudes towards help‐seeking are urgently needed. This study aimed to evaluate the German Attitudes towards Seeking Help after Cancer Scale (ASHCa‐G) and investigated the relationship between patients’ attitudes and psychological care utilisation. Methods The ASHCa‐G was presented to 270 patients with cancer (age 63.0 ± 12.7 years, 44.8% women). Item analyses, principal component analysis and associations with age, social support, help‐seeking intention and psychological care utilisation were calculated. A hierarchical logistic regression was performed to ascertain the leading role of attitudes in explaining psychological care utilisation. Results Principal component analysis supported a two‐component solution, which showed good internal consistency for the positive attitudes (α = 0.80) and negative attitudes (α = 0.75) subscales. The associations with age, distress and help‐seeking intention confirmed the validity of the ASHCa‐G. Positive attitudes explained most variance of cancer patients’ current psychological care utilisation. Conclusion The ASHCa‐G seems to be a reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing attitudes towards seeking psychological help among patients with cancer. Clinical practice might profit from identifying attitudinal barriers that hinder patients with cancer from seeking psychological help.

‘Patients with Cancer are Distressed!’ Indian Healthcare Provider Perspectives on Distress Screening and Referrals to Psycho-oncology Services – A Mixed Methods Study

“…Multiple studies indicate that patients who report moderate to severe distress and are referred for psychosocial support often refrain from taking up services. [39,[43][44][45] Some of the reasons were due to attitudinal issues, feeling that professional help would be futile, perceived to having adequate support from family and friends, etc. Sometimes poor knowledge about availability of psychological support services and its benefits in itself could be a hindrance in uptake of services.…”

Incorporating psychosocial care into routine oncological care: Insights into challenges and strategies from certified cancer centers' audit data

“…6,7 The literature has identified a complex interplay of barriers and facilitators for psychosocial care at the patient level, as well as at the level of health-care organizations. [8][9][10][11][12] At the patient level, it has been shown that seeking help is related to the patients' informal networks, 13 attitudes, 14 sociodemographics, and disease-specific characteristics, 15 practical reasons or lack of knowledge about and confidence in psychosocial services. 8,9,16 At the organizational level, health professionals' personal characteristics, resources within the organization, organizational culture, and communication aspects such as a lack of information being available to patients about the existence and content of psychosocial counseling have been identified as factors that may facilitate or prevent the utilization of psychosocial care by cancer patients.…”