[Psychosocial problems and needs of cancer patients]

A Swedish-American epidemiological study of the psychosocial problems and needs of cancer patients have shown that the personal needs of such individuals are frequently ignored. The Swedish patients requested psychological support more often than the Americans, who instead reported a need for financial assistance. Swedish patients were very rarely offered psychiatric or psychological counselling, while many Americans felt that they had received good support from physicians and other medical personnel. Fourteen per cent of the Swedes and 2.7 per cent of the American patients had no-one to whom to turn for help. The article gives concrete recommendations for better psychosocial care of cancer patients.