Physical Symptoms and Psychiatric, Social, Spiritual and Economical Care Needs of Patients under Home-based Cancer Service

Abstract

Purpose: This study was performed to identify the symptoms and care needs of home-based cancer patients in Korea and to add to the scarce literature on this topic. Methods: Data were collected from patients who subscribed to home-based cancer care services in Jinju. Assessments were performed by nurses at the local public health center. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment System with a numeric rating scale (NRS) was used to identify symptoms, and a four-point Likert scale was used to assess psychological, social, and spiritual needs. Results: Cross-sectional data were collected in October 2013. A total of 209 patients participated and their median age was 65 years (range, 17∼89 years). Most patients were diagnosed in the early stage of cancer (n=188); only 19 patients were diagnosed in the advanced stage. More than half the patients lived alone (n=115, 55.0%) and took care of themselves (n=128, 61.2%). Anorexia and fatigue were the most common symptoms (median NRS, 5 and 4, respectively). Patients needed economic support the most, whereas spiritual care was least needed (n=138 [67.3%] vs. n=128 [62.1%], respectively). Conclusion: Patients who signed up for home-based cancer care services in Jinju are struggling with a financial issue and physical symptoms. A customized approach is needed to improve the quality of the home-based care services.

Caring Needs of Cancer Patients from the Perspective of Home Care Nurses: A Qualitative Study

“…A review study by Wang et al, (2014) on the unsatisfied needs of cancer patients showed that these patients have several needs such as physical, financial, social, and spiritual needs (Kang et al, 2014), which is in line with the findings from the present study that include the various aspects of these needs.…”

“…In this regard, a review study referred to the unmet physical needs of cancer patients including digestive problems and fatigue (Kotronoulas et al, 2017). A study by Kang et al, (2014) in Korea reported that anorexia is one of the most common symptoms of cancer patients, which was managed by home-based care services (Woo et al, 2015). Kotronoulas et al, (2017) introduced nutritional problems as one of the main needs of cancer patients that receive home care and suggested that providing information about this issue is among the needs of these patients.…”

Development of a Community-Based Palliative Care Model for Advance Cancer Patients in Public Health Centers in Busan, Korea

“…Service provision teams provided home-visit services for the referred patients and co-managed these services with healthcare home-visit teams when necessary to guarantee quality services for recipients and effectively utilize the resources available at public health centers. Before the project was implemented, patients receiving end-of-life care and were registered at public health centers received intermittent healthcare rather than palliative care from nurses in healthcare home-visit teams [ 11 ]. Specifically, home-based cancer patients registered at public health centers and elderly patients with chronic illnesses registered with healthcare home-visit teams belonged mainly to a highly vulnerable, low-income class and did not receive quality medical services [ 12 ].…”