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Addressing the needs of parents with advanced cancer: Attitudes, practice behaviors, and training experiences of oncology social workers
- Laura J. Quillen, Nancy A. Borstelmann, Kate E. Stanton, Courtney A. Nelson, Stephanie A. Chien, Savannah M. Bowers, Catherine L. Swift, Yulissa Gonzalez, Samantha M. Yi, Eliza M. Park
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- Journal:
- Palliative & Supportive Care / Volume 19 / Issue 3 / June 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 28 September 2020, pp. 329-334
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- Article
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Objective
Advanced cancer patients who are parents of minor children experience heightened psychosocial distress. Oncology social workers (OSWs) are essential providers of psychosocial support to parents with advanced cancer. Yet, little is known about the experiences and approaches of OSWs in addressing these patients’ unique needs. The purpose of this study was to characterize the attitudes, practice behaviors, and training experiences of OSWs who provide psychosocial care for advanced cancer patients with minor children.
MethodForty-one OSWs participated in a cross-sectional survey addressing multiple facets of their psychosocial care for parents with advanced cancer. The five assessed domains of psychosocial support were communication support, emotional support, household support, illness and treatment decision-making support, and end-of-life planning.
ResultsParticipants reported greatest confidence in counseling patients on communication with children about illness and providing support to co-parents about parenting concerns. OSWs reported less confidence in counseling parents on end-of-life issues and assisting families with non-traditional household structures. The majority of participants reported needing more time in their clinical practice to sufficiently address parents’ psychosocial needs. Nearly 90% of participants were interested in receiving further training on the care of parents with advanced cancer.
Significance of resultsTo improve the care of parents with advanced cancer, it is critical to understand how the psychosocial oncology workforce perceives its clinical practice needs. Study findings suggest an opportunity for enhanced training, particularly with respect to end-of-life needs and in response to the changing household structure of American families.
Contributors
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- By Nalini Vadivelu, Christian J. Whitney, Raymond S. Sinatra, M. Khurram Ghori, Yu-Fan (Robert) Zhang, Raymond S. Sinatra, Joshua Wellington, Yuan-Yi Chia, Francis J. Keefe, Jon McCormack, Ian Power, John Butterworth, P. M. Lavand’homme, M. F. De Kock, Bradley Urie, Oscar A. de Leon-Casasola, Frederick M. Perkins, Larry F. Chu, David Clark, Martin S. Angst, Cynthia M. Welchek, Lisa Mastrangelo, Raymond S. Sinatra, Richard Martinez, Scott S. Reuben, Asokumar Buvanendran, Raymond S. Sinatra, Pamela E Macintyre, Julia Coldrey, Daniel B. Maalouf, Spencer S. Liu, Susan Dabu-Bondoc, Samantha A. Franco, Raymond S. Sinatra, James Benonis, Jennifer Fortney, David Hardman, Gavin Martin, Holly Evans, Karen C. Nielsen, Marcy S. Tucker, Stephen M. Klein, Benjamin Sherman, Ikay Enu, Raymond S. Sinatra, James W. Heitz, Eugene R. Viscusi, Jonathan S. Jahr, Kofi N. Donkor, Raymond S. Sinatra, Manzo Suzuki, Johan Raeder, Vegard Dahl, Stefan Erceg, Keun Sam Chung, Kok-Yuen Ho, Tong J. Gan, Dermot R. Fitzgibbon, Paul Willoughby, Brian E. Harrington, Joseph Marino, Tariq M. Malik, Raymond S. Sinatra, Giorgio Ivani, Valeria Mossetti, Simona Italiano, Thomas M. Halaszynski, Nousheh Saidi, Javier Lopez, Kate Miller, Ferne Braveman, Jaya L. Varadarajan, Steven J. Weisman, Sukanya Mitra, Raymond S. Sinatra, Theodore J. Saclarides, Knox H. Todd, James R. Miner, Chris Pasero, Nancy Eksterowicz, Margo McCaffery, Leslie N. Schechter, Amr E. Abouleish, Govindaraj Ranganathan, Tee Yong Tan, Stephan A. Schug, Marie N. Hanna, Spencer S. Liu, Christopher L. Wu, Craig T. Hartrick, Garen Manvelian, Christine Miaskowski, Brian Durkin, Peter S. A. Glass
- Edited by Raymond S. Sinatra, Oscar A. de Leon-Cassasola, University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, Eugene R. Viscusi, Brian Ginsberg
- Foreword by Henry McQuay
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- Book:
- Acute Pain Management
- Published online:
- 26 October 2009
- Print publication:
- 27 April 2009, pp vii-xii
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