PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR PATIENTS WITH CANCER AND THEIR FAMILIES: PROBLEMS, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

Despite considerable investment in psychosocial support services, the prevalence of distress and psychological morbidity in patients with cancer remains stubbornly high. However, there are grounds for optimism. There is substantial evidence from our studies that the integrated service that we developed prevents a considerable amount of distress and psychological morbidity. Our studies also show that, on average, the mental health of patients accessing the service and participating in randomised controlled trials becomes better than that of comparable individuals in the community who do not have cancer. Finally, unlike other services which are accessed predominantly by middle class women with breast cancer, our integrated service is used in almost equal numbers by men and women, from all types of socio-economic backgrounds, and with the full range of cancers.