Educational group support for patients with gynaecological cancer and their families

Prior to the start of a psychosocial project for patients with gynaecological cancer and their families, a questionnaire was mailed to evaluate their potential interest in an educational and supportive group. Another aim was to rank the most important issues. Group I consisted of patients with a newly diagnosed cancer and group II comprised patients who had been in clinical remission for 2-5 years; 173 questionnaires were sent. The response rate was 80%. The rates of interest in the proposed group sessions were 63% and 65% from patients and relatives in group I, and 52% and 36% from those in group II (P < 0.05). Younger individuals, couples and people with a higher formal education were generally more interested in participating (P < 0.05). The highest-ranked issues (mean 3.9-3.7 on a four-point scale) were cancer and cancer treatment, living with a cancer diagnosis, side-effects of treatment, cancer pain and psychological reactions to cancer. Among patients in group I, the interest in questions related to sexual activity was moderate (mean 2.8); the corresponding figure was significantly higher in group II (P < 0.05). Interest in supportive and educational groups was significantly higher than in comparable studies. Since relaxation programmes and issues concerning problems with relationships have been generally regarded as the most crucial topics in supportive programmes, the preference for specifically cancer-related issues was surprising. The study underlines the importance of specifically ascertaining which issues an intended group considers to be important.