Lack of Needs Assessment in Cancer Survivorship Care and Rehabilitation in Hospitals and Primary Care Settings

Charlotte Handberg, Charlotte Maria Jensen, Thomas Maribo

Abstract


Background: Formalized and systematic assessment of survivorship care and rehabilitation needs is prerequisite for ensuring cancer patients sufficient help and support through their cancer trajectory. Patients are often uncertain as to how to express and address their survivorship care and rehabilitation needs, and little is known about specific, unmet needs and the plans necessary to meet them. There is a call for both ensuring survivorship care and rehabilitation for cancer patients in need and further for documenting the specific needs related to the cancer disease and its treatment. Thus the aim of this study was to describe specific survivorship care and rehabilitation needs and plans as stated by patients with cancer at hospitals when diagnosed and when primary care survivorship care and rehabilitation begins.

Methods: Needs assessment forms from cancer patients at two hospitals and two primary care settings were analyzed. The forms included stated needs and survivorship care and rehabilitation plans. All data were categorized using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Results: Eighty-nine patients at hospitals and 99 in primary care, stated their needs. Around 50% of the patients completed a survivorship care and rehabilitation plan. In total, 666 (mean 7.5) needs were stated by hospital patients and 836 (mean 8.0) by those in primary care. The needs stated were primarily within the ICF component body functions and structure, and the most frequent needs were (hospitals/primary care) fatigue (57%/67%), reduced muscle strength (55%/67%) and being worried (37%/36%).

Conclusions: The results underpin an urgent need for a systematic procedure to assess needs in clinical practice where cancer patients are being left without survivorship care and rehabilitation needs assessment. Gaining knowledge on needs assessment and the detailed description of needs and plans can facilitate targeted interventions. The findings indicate an urgent need to change the practice culture to be systematic in addressing and identifying survivorship care needs among patients with cancer. Further the findings call for considering the development of a new needs assessment form with involvement of both patients and healthcare professionals.




J Clin Med Res. 2017;9(10):864-871
doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jocmr3160w


Keywords


Cancer; Survivorship care; Survivorship; Rehabilitation; Needs assessment; Hospitals; Primary care; International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Full Text: HTML PDF
 

Browse  Journals  

 

Journal of Clinical Medicine Research

Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism

Journal of Clinical Gynecology and Obstetrics

 

World Journal of Oncology

Gastroenterology Research

Journal of Hematology

 

Journal of Medical Cases

Journal of Current Surgery

Clinical Infection and Immunity

 

Cardiology Research

World Journal of Nephrology and Urology

Cellular and Molecular Medicine Research

 

Journal of Neurology Research

International Journal of Clinical Pediatrics

 

 
       
 

Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, monthly, ISSN 1918-3003 (print), 1918-3011 (online), published by Elmer Press Inc.                     
The content of this site is intended for health care professionals.
This is an open-access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted
non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons Attribution license (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International CC-BY-NC 4.0)


This journal follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommendations for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals,
the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

website: www.jocmr.org   editorial contact: editor@jocmr.org     elmer.editorial2@hotmail.com
Address: 9225 Leslie Street, Suite 201, Richmond Hill, Ontario, L4B 3H6, Canada

© Elmer Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the published articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the editors and Elmer Press Inc. This website is provided for medical research and informational purposes only and does not constitute any medical advice or professional services. The information provided in this journal should not be used for diagnosis and treatment, those seeking medical advice should always consult with a licensed physician.