Cancer Care for the Whole Patient: Meeting Psychosocial Health Needs

A DIVERSITY OF SERVICES

An array of services exists to address the varied psychosocial problems and needs (summarized in Chapter 1) that often accompany cancer and its treatment (see Table 3-1). As defined in Chapter 2, psychosocial health services are those psychological and social services that enable patients, their families, and health care providers to optimize biomedical health

TABLE 3-1 Psychosocial Needs and Formal^a Services to Address Them

Psychosocial Need	Health Services
Information about illness, treatments, health, and services	Provision of information, e.g., on illness, treatments, effects on health, and psychosocial services, and help to patients/ families in understanding and using the information
Help in coping with emotions accompanying illness and treatment	Peer support programs Counseling/psychotherapy to individuals or groups Pharmacological management of mental symptoms
Help in managing illness	Comprehensive illness self-management/self-care programs
Assistance in changing behaviors to minimize impact of disease	Behavioral/health promotion interventions, such as: Provider assessment/monitoring of health behaviors (e.g., smoking, exercise) Brief physician counseling Patient education, e.g., in cancer-related health risks and risk-reduction measures
Material and logistical resources, such as transportation	Provision of resources
Help in managing disruptions in work, school, and family life	Family and caregiver education Assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental ADLs, chores Legal protections and services, e.g., under Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act Cognitive testing and educational assistance
Financial advice and/or assistance	Financial planning/counseling, including management of day-to-day activities such as bill paying Insurance (e.g., health, disability) counseling Eligibility assessment/counseling for other benefits (e.g., Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Income) Supplement financial grants
^aThe committee notes that, as discussed in Chapters 1 and 2, family members and friends and other informal sources of support are key providers of psychosocial health services. This table includes only formal sources of psychosocial support—those that must be secured through the assistance of an organization or agency that in some way enables the provision of needed services (sometimes at no cost or through volunteers).

Table of Contents

Front Matter R1-R24

Summary 1-22

1 The Psychosocial Needs of Cancer Patients 23-50

2 Consequences of Unmet Psychosocial Needs 51-80

3 Psychosocial Health Services 81-152

4 A Model for Delivering Psychosocial Health Services 153-218

5 Implementing the Standard of Care 219-240

6 Public- and Private-Sector Policy Support 241-282

7 Preparing the Workforce 283-328

8 A Research Agenda 329-342

Appendix A: Committee Member Biographies 343-352

Appendix B: Study Methods 353-378

Appendix C: Recommendations from Prior Selected Reports 379-408

Index 409-430

A DIVERSITY OF SERVICES