Psychooncological provision in a general hospital: the Herford model

Since October 1995 a Department of Psychooncology exists at the Herford Community Hospital. It was founded by a private foundation with the aim of supporting patients who suffer from cancer. The psychooncological section is an independent unit. This state of independence proved to be very useful and functional. The Herford Model is based on four compartments: psychosocial support for the patients; support for the patients' relations; the education of doctors and nurses; the evaluation of the activities of the team members, one music therapist and three psychologists. During the past 2.5 years 846 patients have had contact with the Department of Psychooncology. The mean age was about 62 years within a range from 15 to 92 years. Of the patients, 48% were men and 52% were women. The maximum number of meetings was 49: 29% of the patients had between four and eight therapeutical meetings, 12% had more than nine sessions. It is the aim of this report to show how the section is organized. The daily work and the rate of provision is shown and an outlook of the team's work in the future is given.