Optimizing Social Support in Oncology with Digital Platforms (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED Increased cancer prevalence and survival rates coupled with earlier patient discharges from hospitals has created a larger need for social support. Cancer care is both short-term and long-term, requiring acute treatments, treatments for remission, and long-term screenings and treatment regimens. Healthcare systems are already overwhelmed and often struggle to provide social support systems for everyone. Caregivers are limited in number, and even when they are available, they often lack necessary information, skills, or resources to meet the needs of patients with cancer. The act of caregiving presents various challenges, and caregivers themselves often need social support as well. Despite these needs, most social support programs are targeted toward patients alone. Given the prevalence of cancer and known needs of these patients and their caregivers, the ability to identify those who need social support is crucial. Further, the scalability and overall availability of social support programs is vital for successful patient care. This paper establishes the benefits of social support for both patients and caregivers coping with cancer treatments, explores innovative ways of identifying patients who may need social support using digital tools, and reviews potential advantages of digital social support programs.

Cancer coping self-efficacy mediates the relationship between mental adjustment to cancer and health-related quality of life in persons with cancer

Individuals with cancer experience significant levels of distress. Improving health-related quality of life of persons with cancer is a major focus in cancer treatment. This study investigated the mediating role of self-efficacy for coping with cancer in the relationship between mental adjustment to cancer and health-related quality of life among individuals with cancer. Two hundred and fourteen persons with cancer (male = 74, female = 140, mean age = 50.57) were recruited from a University Teaching Hospital, in South-West Nigeria. Participants responded to the measures of psychological responses to cancer (mental adjustment to cancer), self-efficacy for coping with cancer (Cancer Behaviour Inventory [CBI]), and health-related quality of life (Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy–General). Mediation analysis and structural equation modelling were carried out using IBM AMOS software version 23. Domains of mental adjustment to cancer significantly predicted health-related quality of life, helplessness/hopelessness, and anxious preoccupation had a negative association with health-related quality of life; whereas fighting spirit, cognitive avoidance, and fatalism were positively associated with health-related quality of life. Self-efficacy had a positive association with health-related quality of life. Mediation analysis showed that self-efficacy for coping with cancer partially mediated the association between four domains of mental adjustment to cancer (helplessness/hopelessness, fighting spirit, cognitive avoidance, and fatalism) and health-related quality of life. The findings demonstrated the need for improved coping mechanisms while undergoing cancer treatment. The study has important clinical implications for psycho-oncology practice, particularly with respect to self-efficacy for coping with cancer. Psychosocial therapies aimed at enhancing the self-efficacy of persons with cancer should be incorporated as part of cancer treatment to improve their health-related quality of life.

Recruiting and Conducting Online Dyadic Semi-Structured Interviews With LGBTQ+ Couples Facing Advanced Cancer

In this study, LGBTQ+ adult couples facing advanced cancer were recruited online. Eligible couples were sent a direct link to electronic consent and surveys in REDCap®. Participants were then invited to complete a 45-minute dyadic semi-structured interview regarding their experience of coping with cancer as a couple. This study faced difficulties in recruiting LGBTQ+ couples, and also faced the challenge of identifying and managing online responses from individuals misrepresenting themselves, and from automated accounts or “bots”. LGBTQ+ aging scholars must acknowledge how conducting research remotely with LGBTQ+ adults may necessitate changes in study design, such as changes to recruitment and more comprehensive eligibility screening designed to prevent and detect the collection of untrustworthy data. Ultimately, protecting the integrity of participant data in online research supports research accessibility and inclusion for LGBTQ+ older adults, and is the first step in conducting research that promotes health equity.

Meaning-Making Coping Methods among Bereaved Parents: A Pilot Survey Study in Sweden

The death of a child may result in traumatizing forms of grief, and meaning-making coping with loss seems to be important in prevention of intense psychosocial problems among bereaved parents. The aim of this quantitative pilot study was to discover the divergent meaning-making coping methods used by bereaved parents in Sweden. In doing so, 162 respondents were selected using a convenience sampling method, and they responded to the modified version of RCOPE. The study revealed that the strategies talking to others about their feelings, pondering the meaning of life alone, and being in nature for greater emotional affiliation, i.e., what we call secular existential coping methods, have been the most used meaning-making coping methods among Swedish mourning parents. While explaining the results, we considered the respondents’ cultural background and speculated about the potential influence of cultural teachings and elements in the selection of ways of coping with bereavement. Further, we compared the results obtained with those of the two other Swedish studies conducted among people coping with cancer and COVID-19 to further discuss the impact of culture on coping with illness, loss, grief, and crisis. The study supports the idea that culture plays an essential role in the choice of coping methods.

Cuidado espiritual na prática de enfermagem oncológica ao paciente adulto

Compreender os cuidados espirituais na prática de enfermagem e evidenciar a importância da espiritualidade no enfrentamento do paciente oncológico. Revisão integrativa da literatura, levantamento bibliográfico através de busca eletrônica das publicações nacionais inseridas na base de dados da Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS). Foram utilizadas as bases de dados indexadas LILACS (Literatura Latino-Americana do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde), BDENF (Base de Dados de Enfermagem) e (IBECS) Índice Bibliográfico Español en Ciencias de la Salud, publicadas entre 2015-2020. Os estudos demonstram que a Espiritualidade e a Religiosidade são ferramentas de grande proporção para o enfrentamento do câncer dos pacientes, mas a falta de preparo e a falha na assistência dos profissionais de saúde que atendem esses pacientes implicam em uma assistência ineficiente. A religiosidade e a espiritualidade se mostram fundamentais no decurso do processo saúde-doença para o enfrentamento do câncer. Pacientes as utilizam como instrumentos para que tenham uma nova perspectiva no processo do adoecimento e do tratamento em si. Enfatiza-se, também, a necessidade de abranger o conhecimento dos profissionais enfermeiros acerca do cuidado espiritual.Descritores: Espiritualidade, Cuidados de Enfermagem, Enfermagem Oncológica. Spiritual care in oncology nursing practice for adult patientsAbstract: To understand spiritual care in nursing practice and to highlight the importance of spirituality in coping with cancer patients. Integrative literature review, using the LILACS (Latin American Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences) databases, BDENF (Nursing Database) and (IBECS) Bibliographic Index Español en Ciencias de la Salud. Spirituality and Religiosity are tools of great proportion for coping with patients' cancer, but the lack of preparation, the failure to assist health professionals who care for these patients implies inefficient assistance. Religiosity and spirituality are fundamental in the course of the health-disease process to face cancer and patients use them as a tool to have a new perspective in the process of illness and treatment itself, it is also emphasized the need to cover the knowledge of nursing professionals about spiritual care.Descriptors: Spirituality, Nursing Care, Oncology Nursing. Cuidado espiritual en la práctica de enfermería oncológica para pacientes adultosResumen: Comprender el cuidado espiritual en la práctica de enfermería y resaltar la importancia de la espiritualidad en el afrontamiento de pacientes con cáncer. Revisión integrativa de la literatura, utilizando las bases de datos LILACS (Literatura del Caribe Latinoamericano en Ciencias de la Salud), BDENF (Base de Datos de Enfermería) e (IBECS) Índice Bibliográfico Español en Ciencias de la Salud. La espiritualidad y la religiosidad son herramientas de gran proporción para el afrontamiento del cáncer de los pacientes, pero la falta de preparación, la falta de asistencia a los profesionales de la salud que atienden a estos pacientes implica una asistencia ineficiente. La religiosidad y la espiritualidad son fundamentales en el transcurso del proceso salud-enfermedad con una nueva perspectiva sobre el proceso de la enfermedad y el tratamiento en sí, también enfatizá-la la necesidad de abarcar el conocimiento de enfermeras profesionales sobre el cuidado espiritual.Descriptores: Espiritualidad, Cuidados de Enfermería, Enfermería Oncológica.