Managing the low-socioeconomic-status prostate cancer patient

Management of patients with low socioeconomic status and/or low literacy who have prostate cancer presents a challenge to healthcare professionals. Improving treatment outcomes for these men requires specific educational programs to provide a better understanding of prostate cancer including careful posttreatment follow-up to ensure they have recovered well, that the cancer is not progressing and that complications are not proving troublesome. Practice nurses and health educators/navigators can play an important role in achieving these objectives. Education and knowledgeable advice can lead to earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, improved patient participation in the treatment decision-making process and effective management of posttreatment complications.