Oncology professionals and patient requests for cancer support services

Matthews, Bryan; Baker, Frank; Spillers, Rachel L.

doi:10.1007/s00520-004-0647-9

Cited by 23 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Thus, we planned to undertake an analysis of support service interventions as defined as those programs or services offered to assist individuals and their families in handling the myriad of physical, emotional, social, and practical problems that follow a stroke diagnosis and its subsequent treatment. 17 We also expected that exercise programs would be another intervention found within the search because better mobility and endurance may be associated with the ability to participate in everyday activities. 18,19 Thus, we planned to undertake an analysis of exercise as an intervention as defined as a physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive, and purposive with the objective of improvement or maintenance of physical fitness and function.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehabilitation Interventions for Improving Social Participation After Stroke

Obembe

Eng

2015

Neurorehabil Neural Repair

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehabilitation Interventions for Improving Social Participation After Stroke

Obembe

Eng

2015

Neurorehabil Neural Repair

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Oncology professionals may not have received training in communication skills and likely have limited resources and time available [50]. More recently, evidence points to patients taking a more active role in inquiring about support services [51], and thus awareness of the specific symptoms that contribute to levels of distress would allow for more accurate and appropriate referral in response to patient inquiries for services.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distress screening in a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic: Prevalence and predictors of clinically significant distress

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SummaryScreening for distress in cancer patients is recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and a Distress Thermometer has previously been developed and empirically-validated for this purpose. The present study sought to determine the rates and predictors of distress in a sample of patients being seen in a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic. Consecutive patients (N = 333) were recruited from an outpatient multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic to complete the Distress Thermometer, an associated Problem Symptom List, and two questions about interest in receiving help for symptoms. Over half (61.6%) of patients reported distress at a clinically significant level, and 22.5% of patients indicated interest in receiving help with their distress and/or symptoms. Problems in the areas of family relationships, emotional functioning, lack of information about diagnosis/treatment, physical functioning, and cognitive functioning were associated with higher reports of distress. Specific symptoms of depression, anxiety, pain and fatigue were most predictive of distress. Younger age was also associated with higher levels of distress. Distress was not associated with other clinical variables, including stage of illness or medical treatment approach. Similar results were obtained when individuals who had not yet received a definitive diagnosis of lung cancer (n = 134) were excluded from analyses; however, family problems and anxiety were no longer predictive of distress. Screening for distress in a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic is feasible and a significant number of patients can be expected to meet clinical criteria for distress. Results also highlight younger age and specific physical and psychosocial symptoms as predictive of clinically-significant distress. Identification of the presence and predictors of distress are the first steps toward appropriate referral and treatment of symptoms and problems that contribute to cancer patients' distress.

show abstract

“…Having developed guidance for health-care professionals, the next step is to consider who may be best placed to respond to the SDI in clinics. Health-care teams are multidisciplinary with members having different roles and responsibilities (Matthews et al, 2004;Catt et al, 2005). It would be unrealistic to expect all team members to have expertise in responding to all items listed within the SDI.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Screening for social difficulties in cancer patients: clinical utility of the Social Difficulties Inventory

et al. 2007

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Guidelines for psychosocial support have been developed, but there are no standard approaches in routine oncology practice to identify patients experiencing social difficulties. We have designed and evaluated a Social Difficulties Inventory (SDI) to identify patients requiring further assessment and, where appropriate, referral to support services. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically meaningful SDI scoring system with guidance for oncology staff. Out of 189 patients, 183 completed the SDI and were interviewed by a social work researcher who scored the SDI independently. Comparison of patient/interviewer assessment was good (intraclass correlation 0.61, 95% confidence interval: 0.51, 0.70). Using top 10% of interviewer social distress (SD) scores to indicate 'SD case', the best 'cut-point' was a patient score of X10 (sensitivity ¼ 0.80; specificity ¼ 0.76; 56 out of 183 'cases'). Out of 127 patients, 72 with SD score o10 had individual SDI item rated at a higher level. Following interview, 32 patients were referred to specialist services, 46 given information and 112 had no action taken. An interpretation algorithm developed includes SD score, individual SDI item rating, and an additional general question, illustrated using four case scenarios. In conclusion, general guidance for interpreting the SDI has been developed to enhance health-care professional/patient consultations with a view to identifying patients who may benefit from support, advice or intervention.

show abstract

Oncology professionals and patient requests for cancer support services

Abstract: This information reflects the need for a multidisciplinary perspective and will be useful for planning patient-based cancer education and support initiatives, refining existing programs, and targeting materials to specific oncological professionals.

Cited by 23 publications

References 34 publications

Rehabilitation Interventions for Improving Social Participation After Stroke

Rehabilitation Interventions for Improving Social Participation After Stroke

Distress screening in a multidisciplinary lung cancer clinic: Prevalence and predictors of clinically significant distress

Screening for social difficulties in cancer patients: clinical utility of the Social Difficulties Inventory

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About