ABSTRACT
Purpose@#We developed a comprehensive return to work (RTW) intervention covering physical, psycho-social and practical issues for patients newly diagnosed and evaluated its efficacy in terms of RTW. @*Materials and Methods@#A multi-center randomized controlled trial was done to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention conducted at two university-based cancer centers in Korea. The intervention program comprised educational material at diagnosis, a face-to-face educational session at completion of active treatment, and three individualized telephone counseling sessions. The control group received other education at enrollment. @*Results@#At 1-month post-intervention (T2), the intervention group was more likely to be working compared to the control group after controlling working status at diagnosis (65.4% vs. 55.9%, p=0.037). Among patients who did not work at baseline, the intervention group was 1.99-times more likely to be working at T2. The mean of knowledge score was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (7.4 vs. 6.8, p=0.029). At the 1-year follow-up, the intervention group was 65% (95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 3.48) more likely to have higher odds for having work. @*Conclusion@#The intervention improved work-related knowledge and was effective in facilitating cancer patients’ RTW.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#The purpose of this study is to explore healthcare professionals’ experience of talking about the fear of cancer recurrence with cancer survivors. @*Methods@#Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 healthcare professionals at two university hospitals in South Korea from August to September 2019. Interviewed healthcare professionals were oncologists and oncology nurses who had at least five years of experience in caring for cancer survivors. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for qualitative content analysis. @*Results@#Participants agreed that most cancer survivors experience fear of cancer recurrence on some level.However, health care professionals rarely heard the word ‘recurrence’ directly from cancer survivors, and they responded to cancer survivors’ concern about recurrence differently. Some of them intervened in the cancer survivors’ problems actively but some had minimum communication with cancer survivors. Health professionals believed that interventions were necessary not only for the survivors but also for themselves. @*Conclusion@#Healthcare professionals need education or training on how to respond to and manage cancer survivors’ fear of recurrence in clinical settings, considering its impact on survivors’ quality of life.
ABSTRACT
Purpose@#The purpose of this study is to explore healthcare professionals’ experience of talking about the fear of cancer recurrence with cancer survivors. @*Methods@#Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 healthcare professionals at two university hospitals in South Korea from August to September 2019. Interviewed healthcare professionals were oncologists and oncology nurses who had at least five years of experience in caring for cancer survivors. Interviews were recorded and transcribed for qualitative content analysis. @*Results@#Participants agreed that most cancer survivors experience fear of cancer recurrence on some level.However, health care professionals rarely heard the word ‘recurrence’ directly from cancer survivors, and they responded to cancer survivors’ concern about recurrence differently. Some of them intervened in the cancer survivors’ problems actively but some had minimum communication with cancer survivors. Health professionals believed that interventions were necessary not only for the survivors but also for themselves. @*Conclusion@#Healthcare professionals need education or training on how to respond to and manage cancer survivors’ fear of recurrence in clinical settings, considering its impact on survivors’ quality of life.