Effects of information on recently diagnosed cancer patients' and spouses' satisfaction with care

The effects of an intervention consisting of information, referral, counseling, and follow-up care individualized to patient and spouse needs on satisfaction and coping were determined from data gathered from 30 recently diagnosed male cancer patients and their spouses. A control group of 30 recently diagnosed cancer patients and their spouses received routine information, referral, counseling, and follow-up care. All participants were assessed for their informational needs using the Informational Needs Assessment instrument, and all self-rated their satisfaction with information received using the Satisfaction (SAT) instrument. Couples in the experimental groups received formal individualized intervention as described earlier. Two weeks after the initial testing but before medical intervention, all participants again self-rated their satisfaction using the SAT instrument. The results of a repeated measures analysis of variance test indicated that the experimental groups gained more information and were more satisfied with that information when compared with their counterpart control groups.