Journal of Psychosocial Oncology最新文献

Purpose: This study examines how patients with gastric cancer and their spouses communicate about the illness, assessing the impact of positive or negative communication on their psychological adaptation and the intimacy of their relationship as a couple.

Method: Employing The Relationship Intimacy Model of Couple Adaptation to Cancer, this study used purposive sampling with the principle of maximum variation to select participants. Sixteen pairs of patients with gastric cancer and their spouse caregivers, hospitalized in the oncology department of a tertiary hospital in Jingjiang City, Jiangsu Province, from March to July 2023, were chosen for semi-structured face-to-face interviews. The recorded data were transcribed within 24 h following each interview and supplemented with field notes. Directed content analysis was employed for the qualitative content analysis.

Results: The interview data revealed three themes and six subthemes. Theme 1: The impact of negative patient-spouse communication, with the subthemes being (i) a decline in couples' relationship intimacy and (ii) reduced psychological adaptation. Theme 2: The impact of positive patient-spouse communication, with the subthemes being (i) enhanced couples' relationship intimacy and (ii) increased psychological adaptation. Theme 3: The impact of protective concealment, with the subthemes being (i) declined couples' relationship intimacy and psychological adaptation, and (ii) increased couples' relationship intimacy and psychological adaptation. Throughout the chemotherapy period, patients with gastric cancer and their spouses experienced both positive and negative forms of patient-spouse communication. This underscores the significance of acknowledging protective concealment within couples. Moreover, the study highlights how the dynamics of couples' relationship intimacy and psychological adaptation are influenced by both positive and negative communication patterns surrounding the illness.

Conclusions: For patients with gastric cancer and their spouses, it is crucial for nurses to emphasize the importance of spousal disease communication during chemotherapy. Efforts should be made to mitigate one-sided, conflictual communication and avoidance behaviors, and to adopt appropriate communication strategies in terms of content and timing to deeply promote couple communication. Additionally, there is a need to focus on the physical and psychological stress of protective concealment in couples.

Problem identification: The purpose of this review was to identify and synthesize the published literature on Quality of Life (QoL) and unmet needs of late-stage (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] III) and metastatic (AJCC IV) CRC survivors.

Literature search: Databases searched included PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase from 2010 to 2023. Articles were included if they focused on self-reported CRC experiences of late-stage and metastatic survivors, identifying 512 articles, of which five met the inclusion criteria.

Data evaluation/synthesis: Five studies were identified that examined QoL and unmet needs of CRC survivors. Three studies assessed only stage III and IV cases. Core factors that may impact QoL included younger age, emotional support from social circles, and psychological support during post-therapy periods. Unmet needs reported by CRC survivors included help managing distress and psychological support for fear of cancer progression.

Conclusions: Limited research has explored unmet needs of late-stage and metastatic CRC survivors. Further research is needed to understand patient factors that impact QoL and unmet needs to support best care practices.

Purpose: After completion of curative cancer treatment patients enter the re-entry phase, which is characterized by the task to pick up life again. While having to resume their former roles, patients experience the loss of normality and face existential concerns. A sense of meaning and purpose may help in dealing with changes in life and existential concerns. The aim of this study is to gain insight in the meaning-making process of patients treated for breast cancer or melanoma in the re-entry phase in order to develop an intervention to support picking up life after a long treatment process including systemic treatment.

Methods: We conducted six focus groups with 16 patients (11 breast cancer and five melanoma) to explore their experiences, challenges, and sources of meaning during the re-entry phase. The re-entry phase was defined as the point from completion of surgical and systemic treatment (except for hormonal therapy) up to 18 months in remission. A thematic content analysis was performed by two researchers.

Results: We identified four themes pertaining to patients' use of sources of meaning in the meaning-making process: (1) use of existing, helpful sources; (2) distress due to impacted sources; (3) search for new sources; and (4) use of adapted or new sources. When patients drew upon existing sources of meaning that had been impacted by cancer and the aftermath of treatment, they experienced distress. This could instigate a search resulting in adapted, strengthened, or new sources of meaning.

Conclusions: Meaning-making in the re-entry phase is a versatile process involving the use of existing sources of meaning, and a search for, or use of new, strengthened, or adapted sources of meaning. An intervention increasing patients' awareness of their sources of meaning might strengthen the meaning-making process of patients treated for breast cancer or melanoma.

Objective: To describe the adaptation and feasibility of the Swedish version of the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) intervention among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) newly diagnosed with cancer.

Methods: PRISM is a 5-session, manualized program designed to strengthen AYAs individual resources for managing stress by promoting resilience skills: stress-management, goal-setting, cognitive reframing and meaning-making. It is delivered 1:1 by an interventionist via video-visits. PRISM was developed in the US and adapted for a Swedish population. A feasibility study was conducted looking at recruitment, retention, acceptability of the intervention (evaluation survey and exit interviews) and pre- and post- exploratory psychosocial outcome measures (resilience, global health, emotional functioning and rehabilitation needs). Participants were recruited from a comprehensive cancer center in Sweden.

Results: Of the 31 eligible individuals (16-30 years), 20 (65%) agreed to participate and 11 (55%) completed PRISM. Eighty-six percent (6/7) of the participants who completed the evaluation survey thought that the order of the modules and the content were "very good or good". The AYAs that participated in the exit interviews expressed that the programme contributed new knowledge and for some confirmed previous knowledge, which was valuable both during and after participation. The role of the interventionist was stressed as important to support participants through the programme. Suggestions for the future included making PRISM more personalized. Exploratory quantitative analyses suggested improved mean scores regarding resilience, global health and emotional functioning from pre- to post-intervention.

Conclusions: This study suggests that participating in PRISM has the potential to guide AYAs during the initial period after a cancer diagnosis. Further work to make PRISM more personalized might increase AYAs' interest in, and completion of, PRISM.

Purpose: This study aimed to develop the Partner Version of the Self-Efficacy to Communicate about Sex and Intimacy (SECSI-PV) scale.

Methods: Candidate items derived from the patient version of the instrument were refined with input from an expert panel specializing in sexual health, psychosocial oncology, and instrument development (n = 6). Partners (n = 17) of female cancer survivors participated in cognitive interviews to assess the revised scale's content validity.

Results: Transcripts were analyzed qualitatively. Participants endorsed the items as relevant, clear, and appropriate.

Conclusions: The present work illustrates the iterative development of the SECSI-PV scale. The study highlights the importance of including partners in sexual health discussions and emphasizes the need for psychosocial interventions supporting partners' confidence communicating about sexuality and intimacy. Additional research is recommended to validate the instrument in larger samples encompassing cancer types that are not sex-based and partners from diverse backgrounds, including sexual and gender minority groups.

Purpose: To examine the associations between state positive psychological well-being (PPWB) constructs, mood, and quality of life (QOL) in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) survivors.

Design: The study was a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data.

Sample/methods: We analyzed self-report data assessing positive affect, flourishing, QOL, depression and anxiety, and PTSD symptoms from 158 allogeneic HSCT recipients at day-100 post-transplant enrolled in supportive care studies.

Findings: Univariate analysis showed that factors associated with greater levels of various state PPWB constructs include older age, disability status, greater social support, and presence of graft-versus-host disease. Multivariate analysis showed that state PPWB constructs-greater levels of positive affect and flourishing-were significantly associated with better QOL and lower PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptomatology.

Implications: Our findings suggest that longitudinal studies are needed to examine the links between state PPWB constructs and HSCT outcomes, which may inform population specific interventions and opportunities to improve outcomes.

Purpose: To understand the scanxiety experience in pancreatic cancer (PC) survivors following curative surgical resection.

Design: A qualitative study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used.

Methods: Eighteen PC survivors participated. Data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews were analyzed and themes emerged from systematic line-by-line coding of the interview transcripts.

Findings: Two key themes emerged: 'the recurring cycle of scanxiety' and 'hope for lifelong remission'. Participants experienced similar patterns of scanxiety that impacted everyday life. Hope was an essential stabilizing component of the cancer-scan experience, and enabled participants to conceptualize a cure, despite the high likelihood of recurrent, incurable disease. A conceptual framework was developed to provide further insight.

Implications: Everyday life is significantly affected during times of PC surveillance scans. This study enhances our understanding of the cancer-scan experience and provides a framework to guide care.

Objective: This study utilized social risk data in the electronic heath record collected as part of routine clinical practice and examined relationships with supportive oncology care contacts and healthcare utilization.

Methods: A total of 2,807 cancer patients were screened for four social determinants of health (SDOH) domains (financial resource strain, housing instability, food insecurity, and transportation need) and categorized to low or high risk SDOH groups. The number of patient contacts with supportive oncology was compared amongst the groups. The data were analyzed for demographic and outcome differences including emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, and appointment adherence.

Results: Heightened social risk was associated with more total contacts with supportive oncology care. Patients with high SDOH risk had more contacts across all outcomes examined including emergency department visits (M = 13), inpatient admissions (M = 14), and missed appointments (M = 11).

Conclusions: Patients with both greater social risks and acute care utilization are associated with more psychosocial interventions in supportive oncology follow-up. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive action to respond to social risk factors identified in SDOH screening.

Purpose: To synthesize literature regarding the implementation and evaluation of psychosocial interventions designed to reduce distress in post-treatment haematological cancer survivors.

Methods: An integrative review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Databases searched were Medline, Cinahl, PsychInfo, WoS, and EMBASE, during November 2022.

Results: The total number of eligible studies was 14. The interventions comprised four main intervention categories: care planning, psychological therapy-based, supported self-care/self-management, and survivorship clinic visits. Overall psychosocial interventions were shown to improve outcomes for haematological cancer survivors.

Conclusions: Psychosocial interventions may play a role in reducing distress for post-treatment haematological cancer survivors and have shown improvements in both psychological and physical outcomes. However, the evidence base was limited and heterogeneous indicating the need for more research.

Implications for cancer survivors: Psychosocial interventions for haematological cancer survivors have the potential to reduce psychosocial distress during the post-treatment period.