Health Orientation and Fear of Cancer: Implications for Counseling and Integrated Care

Abstract

The mental health counseling profession’s focus on wellness and prevention puts counselors at an advantage in the developing fields of integrated care and cancer care. To integrate counselors further into the cancer care world, this study investigated how factors related to prevention and wellness (e.g., health orientation and fear of cancer) relate to topics that counselors are adept at addressing, such as optimism, social support, and resilience. Results indicated that health orientation predicted fear of cancer, but that psychosocial variables (i.e., optimism and social support) either had no relationship with cancer fear or were not significant moderators (i.e., resiliency) of the relationship between health orientation and fear of cancer. In particular, health anxiety was the best predictor of cancer fear. Implications for counselors and future research are discussed.

Biopsychosocial models in cancer care: application of a counseling model of wellness

“…A 2018 meta-analysis on the effectiveness of mental health and behavioral providers in integrated care settings found that, overall, the inclusion of mental health and behavioral health services within primary care settings is more effective in improving patient wellbeing than traditional primary care strategies of medication and referral (Lenz, et al). While less is known about the role of counselors in cancer-specific integrated care settings, others have noted the fitness of the wellness-oriented counseling approaches in accomplishing the goals of integrated cancer care (Wood et al, 2020). Limited evidence also suggests the utility of counseling wellness and assessment models for guiding group interventions of cancer survivors in integrated care settings (Shannonhouse et al, 2014).…”