A Model for Psychosocial Care in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Among cancer patients, those with disease of the head and neck area carry the highest psychiatric morbidity. Over 50% may be depressed even before treatment. Recognition and care of these problems is best done on a multidisciplinary basis with psychosocial care coordinated by a social worker. The concept of quality of life, a relatively new concept for head and neck cancer, may become an important tool to assist patients with initial decisions about care and to better define the success of management. In this paper we will review the psychiatric, behavioral and psychosocial problems related to the patient with otolaryngological cancer, discuss interventions to reduce patient and family distress, and describe a model for identifying those patients who need more intensive psychosocial care.