ABSTRACT
AIM: The aim of the study is to look at the specific contribution of outpatient cancer counselling centers (OCCC) from the perspective of both the person seeking advice and the referring health care professionals. METHODS: Qualitative design by means of guideline-based face-to-face interviews with cancer patients/relatives and individual telephone interviews with referring health care professionals. RESULTS: A total of 43 persons seeking advice and 30 referring health care professionals were interviewed. With regard to the contents of counselling, psycho-oncological support and help for self-help in combination with social-legal information about additional support services are perceived as central features. In the group of referring physicians, however, there seems to be some uncertainty about what OCCCs (can) provide. CONCLUSION: On the one hand, the results point to a specific core of the services offered by OCCCs, and on the other hand to ambiguous perceptions on the part of the respondents. They may contribute to further sharpening the profile of OCCC and to clarifying their place in the health care system.
