The road less travelled: Australian women's experiences with vulval cancer.

Despite advances in surgical treatments and the availability of more conservative treatment options, women treated for vulval cancer still experience significant complications such as urinary incontinence, lymphoedema, pruritus, sexual and intimacy issues. These issues can profoundly impact a woman's quality of life. The subjective experience of women diagnosed and treated for vulval cancer in the literature is limited, possibly due to its comparable rarity to other gynaecological and female cancers and because it was traditionally seen mainly in the elderly female population. Nonetheless, younger women are also being diagnosed with vulval cancer. This paper reports the findings from a qualitative study about twelve women's experiences with vulval cancer from diagnosis, through treatment and recovery. Women's feelings of isolation, their unmet information and support needs, physical concerns arising from vulval cancer, particularly after surgery, and the consequences for their body image and intimate relationships with partners, were highlighted within the data. The central findings from this study emphasise the need for further research to develop appropriate interventions for women with vulval cancer. It also highlights opportunities to improve clinical practice into the supportive care of women with this isolating disease.

Patients' satisfaction with fast-track surgery in gynaecological oncology.

This study investigates the experience and satisfaction with care of fast-tracked gynaecological patients. The Sydney Gynaecological Oncology Group, New South Wales, Australia, has previously shown the benefits of a fast-track surgery programme for gynaecology patients with both complex benign gynaecological pathology and gynaecological malignancy. The question of whether these benefits translate into a positive experience for fast-tracked patients, in the context of their hospital stay and healthcare team care, has not been previously explored in detail. A self-administered satisfaction questionnaire incorporating the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) cancer in-patient satisfaction with care measure (INPATSAT-32) questionnaire with additional questions was administered to 106 gynaecology participants at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Participants reported high levels of satisfaction with patient care and support received from doctors, ward nurses and the hospital as a service and care organisation, within the context of a fast-track surgical programme. Early hospital discharge after gynaecological surgery results in both enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) and high levels of patient satisfaction.

Mapping the psychosocial and practical support needs of cancer patients in Western Australia.

Understanding the unmet needs of cancer patients is important for developing and refining services to address the identified gaps in cancer care. In order to describe the psychological and practical support needs of Western Australians with cancer, the Western Australian Cancer Registry was used to identify a sample of individuals with cancer. These individuals were then invited to complete the Supportive Care Needs Survey (SCNS-LF59) and a demographic questionnaire. Data from participants who completed and returned both questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and one-way anova. Of the 1770 participants identified and contacted, a total of 829 individuals (47% response) completed the SCNS-LF59 alone, and 786 (94.8%) completed both questionnaires. Overall, a substantial minority of Western Australian cancer patients reported unmet needs, primarily in the psychological and physical and daily living domains. Disease-specific needs were also identified for the five most common cancer groups in Australia; for example, prostate cancer patients had unmet needs relating to sexuality, and melanoma patients had unmet informational needs. Cancer services need to look at how best to tailor resources and interventions to meet these needs of specific cancer subpopulations.