COVID-19 has major impact on psycho-social care of cancer patients


Date:
August 18, 2020
Source:
University of Surrey
Summary:
Psychosocial needs of people affected by cancer are not being
adequately met due to the disruption in services caused by Covid-19,
according to a new report.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Psychosocial needs of people affected by cancer are not being adequately
met due to the disruption in services caused by Covid-19, according to
a new report in the journal Psycho-Oncology.


========================================================================== During this unique study, researchers from six universities, as part
of their work on the British Psychosocial Oncology Society Executive
Committee, investigated how psychosocial support for those affected by
cancer was impacted during the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Surveying 94 professionals working in the field of psychosocial oncology
in the UK, the researchers identified a number of concerns regarding
suspension of face-to-face delivery of care to those affected by the
disease. Care is now being delivered remotely by staff at home or in
some regions has been suspended entirely.

Those surveyed reported a decline in the number of patients referred to psychosocial services and expressed concern about the impact delays in accessing care would have on patients. The use of telephone/video calls
to complete assessments with this group of patients was also found to
be more difficult, particularly if there was no existing relationship
between the two, making it harder to form a therapeutic alliance.

Dr Kate Absolom, University Academic Fellow in the School of Medicine at
the University of Leeds and chair of the British Psychosocial Oncology
Society, supervised the research. She said: "The results from our survey clearly demonstrate the major upheaval Covid-19 has caused. There are significant ongoing concerns about funding and how services and research activity will be maintained in coming months and years.

"It's vital we monitor how the situation develops and work collaboratively other cancer organisations to mitigate challenges and continue developing psycho-oncology activity in the UK." The research identified that a lack
of face-to-face monitoring and social isolation has led to heightened
feelings of anxiety and distress amongst some cancer communities,
increasing the need for psychological support. Due to this increased
demand and the temporary suspension of services delivering psychosocial support, advice and care, the needs of patients may not be met.

The benefits of delivering care remotely to patients was highlighted by
some respondents. Many noted that they were now able to assist patients
who were previously unable to travel to them due to distance and illness
and many welcomed the flexibility working from home offered to staff.

Dr Jo Armes, Reader in Cancer Care and Lead for Digital Health at the University of Surrey and one of the study's authors, said: "Receiving a
cancer diagnosis or living with cancer can be both physically and mentally devastating to a patient and their families. Feelings of depression and
anxiety are common which negatively impacts their overall wellbeing.

"Moving psychosocial support to remote delivery, and in some cases
suspending it all together, has proven to be difficult for staff to
deliver and has resulted in the needs of patients affected by cancer
not being met. Due to the current pandemic this has unfortunately been unavoidable but it is important that we learn from this experience and see
what works well for patients and what doesn't so that plans can be put
in place to deal with similar situations in the future." The research
was conducted in collaboration with Dr Steph Archer (University of
Cambridge), Dr Trish Holch (Leeds Beckett University), Professor Claire
Foster and Dr Lynn Calman (University of Southampton), Dr Sarah Gelcich (University of Leeds) and Dr Sara MacLennan (University of Aberdeen).


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Surrey. Original written
by Natasha Meredith. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Stephanie Archer, Patricia Holch, Jo Armes, Lynn Calman, Claire
Foster,
Sarah Gelcich, Sara Jane MacLennan, Kate Absolom. 'No turning back'
Psycho‐oncology in the time of COVID‐19: Insights
from a survey of UK professionals. Psycho-Oncology, 2020; DOI:
10.1002/pon.5486 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200818103816.htm

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