Psychosocial research
Being diagnosed with cancer can be an extremely upsetting experience. Psychosocial research looks at the emotional (psychological) and social impact that cancer has on patients, and their families and carers.
Questions answered by psychosocial research include:
- How do people react to being told they have cancer?
- How do they cope with having treatment for cancer?
- Are people with cancer more likely to have mental health problems?
- How does cancer and its treatment affect a person’s daily life?
- Why do some patients decide not to finish their treatment?
- How do we measure how cancer affects a patient’s life?
- How do families react to having a relative with cancer?
Psychosocial research also looks at the importance of help and support for cancer patients. For example, do cancer patients live longer or is their quality of life better if they receive help and support during their disease? Psychosocial research often tries to measure ‘quality of life’. This refers to how a patient's physical and psychological state affects their enjoyment of everyday life.
This type of research can also suggest new and better ways for doctors and patients to communicate. As cancer treatments are get better and better, more and more patients are recovering from this disease and living longer. Psychosocial research helps patients deal with life after cancer.
Here's an example of psychosocial research:
One in four people with cancer suffer from some degree of depression, but the condition frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated. In these cases the impact on quality of life can be huge.
Our researchers in Scotland have set up the Symptom Management Research Trials Group, or SMaRT, to find new ways of tackling depression in cancer patients.
The team is now developing strategies to address this problem. These are designed to be administered by a specially trained cancer nurse who:
- Manages the patient's depression care and communicates with their oncologist and GP.
- Provides training in coping skills.
- Encourages the patient to visit their GP and discuss antidepressant drugs.
A pilot trial has shown that 6 months after this strategy had ended less than 20 per cent of people treated by the nurses were still suffering from major depression. However, nearly 60 per cent of people who had not been treated by the nurses still suffered from depression.
This strategy is now being tested in a large scale trial that will include more patients with different types of cancer. The strategy will also be delivered by three different cancer nurses to check the consistency of their training.
