Clinical judgment of the need for professional mental health care in patients with cancer: a qualitative study among oncologists and nurses

Karchoud, Jeanet; Kruif, Anja J. T. C. M. de; Lamers, Femke; Linde, Myra E. van; Jong, Joyce M. van Dodewaard-de; Braamse, Annemarie; Sprangers, Mirjam A. G.; Beekman, Aartjan; Verheul, H.; Dekker, Joost

doi:10.1007/s11764-021-01151-2

Cited by 2 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 39 publications

(58 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Reconsidering life goals or finding alternative ways to achieve life goals may help to prevent emotional symptoms forming a tightly connected network of symptoms. The present conceptualization can also be used to improve adaptive functioning: oncologist and nurses have a critical role in supporting patients in this regard ( 12 , 72 ). Of course, these potential clinical applications require that empirical support is garnered for the present theory on emotions in patients with cancer, and in turn must themselves be empirically evaluated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward an improved conceptualization of emotions in patients with cancer

Dekker,

Doppenberg-Smit,

Braamse

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cancer and its associated treatment is a major stressor, leading to emotions such as anxiety or depressive mood. Human emotions have developed through the course of evolution because they facilitate adaptation to important events, such as cancer and its associated treatment. On the other hand, emotions can be maladaptive and interfere with adaptation to cancer. Emotions are maladaptive if they are disproportionally severe or persistent, and if they interfere with functioning. We aim to expand the conceptualization of adaptive and maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer. We draw on major theories in the field of mental disorder and mental health, and apply these theories to conceptualize adaptive and maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer. (i) Maladaptive emotions have two essential features: mental dysfunction and patient harm. Maladaptive emotions are characterized by a network of strongly associated emotional symptoms, which may include cancer-related somatic symptoms. The dysfunctional symptom network is hypothesized to be the result of disturbance of life goal pursuit caused by cancer. (ii) Adaptive emotions have two essential features: ability to deal with cancer and functioning well. The ability to use emotions in an adaptive way depends on skills to recognize, express, and regulate emotions in a flexible manner. A secure attachment style facilitates adaptive emotional responses to cancer. The present conceptualization of adaptive and maladaptive emotions is expected to contribute to better understanding and management of emotions in patients with cancer.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward an improved conceptualization of emotions in patients with cancer

Dekker,

Doppenberg-Smit,

Braamse

et al. 2024

Front. Psychiatry

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As this approach may have little or no beneficial effect on psychological distress [ 32 , 33 ], an alternative approach has been developed in which clinicians (physicians, nurses) provide emotional support and identify patients in need of professional mental health care (case finding) [ 15 ]. A qualitative study showed that some clinicians are indeed able to manage patients’ emotions using this approach [ 34 ]. These clinicians allowed patients time to adjust, while monitoring patients’ psychological well-being, especially if patients exhibit specific risk factors (“watchful waiting”).…”

Section: Brief Illustrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Risk and protective factors for emotional problems included personal, social, and disease- and treatment-related factors. Referral for professional mental health care was considered when specific indicators of emotional problems were noted, such as emotions with a negative impact on a patient’s daily life or treatment [ 34 ]. As it cannot be assumed that all clinicians are able to adequately manage patient emotions in this way, psychologists could provide additional training to help improve clinician’s performance [ 15 , 34 ].…”

Section: Brief Illustrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Referral for professional mental health care was considered when specific indicators of emotional problems were noted, such as emotions with a negative impact on a patient’s daily life or treatment [ 34 ]. As it cannot be assumed that all clinicians are able to adequately manage patient emotions in this way, psychologists could provide additional training to help improve clinician’s performance [ 15 , 34 ]. Additional training could focus on psychological and psychiatric knowledge on and techniques for managing emotions and emotional disorders, communication techniques, and empathy.…”

Section: Brief Illustrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Health care providers whose primary training is not psychology require training as well. Some may have developed a good understanding of the psychological problems of their patients and how to manage these problems (e.g., [ 34 ]). Others may need practical training to develop a basic understanding of psychological problems and skills to deal with these problems.…”

Section: Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Psychologically informed health care

Dekker

Sears

Åsenlöf

et al. 2023

Translational Behavioral Medicine

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The term “psychologically informed health care” refers to the comprehensive integration of psychological principles into health care. Psychologically informed health care has the potential to lead to a transformation of care, resulting in truly transdisciplinary care. To facilitate its future development, we discuss key characteristics of this approach. These include the direct mode (psychologists assessing and treating patients themselves) and indirect mode (psychologists working through other health care providers) of integrating psychological principles into healthcare; the range of health domains targeted using this approach; transdisciplinary care, transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries; and the positioning of care. We describe a framework for transdisciplinary care, which we refer to as the Framework for Catalytic Collaboration. This framework comprises six dimensions: setting, disciplines, patients/clients, mode of psychological care, primary components of care, and primary targets of care. We also provide four brief illustrations of psychologically informed health care. Finally, we discuss future directions, including the need for professional recognition of the indirect mode, financing of the indirect mode, cross-disciplinary training and trans-disciplinary research.

show abstract

Clinical judgment of the need for professional mental health care in patients with cancer: a qualitative study among oncologists and nurses

Cited by 2 publications

References 39 publications

Toward an improved conceptualization of emotions in patients with cancer

Toward an improved conceptualization of emotions in patients with cancer

Psychologically informed health care

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About