Related Experiment Videos
Development and evaluation of a problem-focused psychosocial intervention for patients with head and neck cancer
Cherith J Semple1, Lynn Dunwoody, W George Kernohan
1Ulster Hospital-Cancer Services, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT16 1RH, Northern Ireland. Cherith.Semple@setrust.hscni.net
Goals Of The Work:
Patients with head and neck cancer have complex needs that affect many basic functions of life and contribute to substantial psychosocial problems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a problem-focused intervention for patients with psychosocial dysfunction who had completed treatment for head and neck cancer.
Patients And Methods:
Using a quasi-experimental design, 54 participants who were above pre-determined cutoff points for psychosocial dysfunction (hospital and depression scale, work and social adjustment scale) were given the opportunity to self-select into either the experimental group for the psychosocial intervention programme which was delivered in an individualised format, with bibliotherapy as an adjunct, or the control group for usual care.
Main Results:
Analysis of covariance results demonstrated a reduction in psychological distress (anxiety, p = 0.001; depression, p = 0.005), improving social functioning (p = 0.048) and quality of life scores (p = <0.05) for the experimental group, all of which were sustained into the 3-month follow-up period. No such improvements were evident for the control group.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that head and neck cancer patients with post-treatment psychosocial dysfunction can benefit from a problem-focused psychosocial intervention. Such evidence can inform practice, policy and future research, aimed at improving post-treatment quality of life for patients with head and neck cancer.
Related Concept Videos
Nursing Evaluation
Section...
Planning Nursing Care I
Role of Communication in the Nursing Process II: Planning and Implementation
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Nursing Interventions II: Selecting and Classifying the Nursing Interventions
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching I: Assessment and Diagnosis
It is critical to determine the patient's learning needs during the assessment. Determination of learning needs compounds data from the...