Report: Psychosocial Impacts, Care Strategies for Cancer

This report delves into the psychosocial impacts of cancer, highlighting the emotional, psychological, and social challenges faced by patients. It examines the effects of chronic illness on daily life, emotional well-being, and self-esteem. The report explores the national and global impacts of cancer, including its economic and social consequences. It then outlines effective nursing care strategies, such as patient education, symptom management, and supportive care, emphasizing the importance of patient assessment and coordination of care. Furthermore, the report discusses the effectiveness of client care partnerships in improving patient outcomes through shared decision-making and collaborative care. The evaluation of these strategies and partnerships reveals their benefits and limitations in providing holistic and comprehensive care for cancer patients.

Chronic Illness and
Supportive Care

Table of Contents
Psychosocial impacts of Cancer..................................................................................................1
National and global impacts of cancer.........................................................................................1
Nursing care strategy for Cancer.................................................................................................2
Evaluation of nursing care strategy.............................................................................................2
Client care partnerships and their effectiveness..........................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4

Psychosocial impacts of Cancer
Cancer is a chronic illness which has many psychosocial impacts. The pain and other
symptoms cause physical discomfort and pain. Activities of daily living are also affected by this.
The patient experiences confusion, anxiety and fear. These impact the decision making process
as well as the emotional and mental health. Further, the emotional needs of the person are
impacted by Cancer which is also a psychosocial impact of this chronic illness (Tsamakis and
et.al., 2020). The patient is unable to experience a sense of comfort and safety owing to the pain
and the other side effects associated with cancer and its treatment. Due to the critical nature of
the illness, the patient experiences sadness, grief and loss. While coping with the experiences of
the chosen illness and its consequences, the person loses self-control. Moreover, as the cancer
patient is not able to play active role in family relationships and social networks, there is
significant impact on self- esteem.
The patient lives with a sense of doubt regarding community involvement. Non
fulfillment of the spiritual needs is also a significant psychosocial impact of cancer. The patient
feels that his purpose of life is unaccomplished (Worrall and et.al., 2021). Also, there are
existential concerns that trouble the patient suffering from cancer.
National and global impacts of cancer
National impact
Cancer has wide national and global impacts. Cancer is regarded as a major illness cause
in the country. It leads to substantial economic as well as social impacts on not only the patients
but also on their family members. In Australia, there were 490 cases per 100,000 persons in the
year 2016. In the year 2018, cancer lead to 47, 310 deaths in the country (Cancer in Australia
statistics, 2021).
Considering the statistics of the chosen illness, it can be analyzed that cancer may be
regarded as the major cause of poverty. The treatment and management of the disease is costly.
Moreover, it impacts the ability of people to work. In this way, cancer makes the workforce of
the nation weak. Moreover, it also leads to morbidity, reduced life quality and premature deaths,
thus negatively impacting the nation.
Global impact
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According to World Health Organization (WHO), the second leading cause of death is
cancer (Cancer, 2021). Due to it, 10 million deaths are cause every year. It causes burden on the
communities as well as the health systems globally. In the developing countries, the survival
rates of cancer are low as their health systems are weak. Moreover, the economic impact of
cancer on the world is most devastating as compared to any other chronic illness.
Nursing care strategy for Cancer
The following are nursing care strategies for cancer:
 Patient assessment
 Patient education
 Coordination of care
 Direct patient care
 Symptom management
 Supportive care
Patient education
Education of the patient and the family members regarding the various aspects of cancer
and its treatment is an important strategy in nursing care (Antoni and Dhabhar, 2019). This helps
in ensuring the success of the treatment course. For the client suffering from lung cancer, the
nurse can make use of various written and visual teaching aids. Cancer patient needs emotional
and social support. He may also have psychological needs wherein the person needs to be
supported to cope with illness and its consequences. Further, most importantly, the informational
needs of the cancer patient need to be met. This includes information related to treatment and
other related aspects.
The goal of this strategy is to enable the patient and the family to be participative in the
decision making process related to life activities and care plan. Education also helps them to be
aware and prepared regarding the oncologic emergencies and side- effects of the disease.
Moreover, with education the patients will be able to meet self- care needs.
Evaluation of nursing care strategy
The strategy for patient education by making use of written and visual aids can be
evaluated. The education material used by the nurse for the client with lung cancer consisted of
single page flyers which provided all the necessary information in a summarized form. This is
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useful as the patient does not have to go through a number of pages. The necessary information
can be obtained by him through the single page of the flyer. Moreover, various aspects of cancer,
its treatment and side effects were covered by the flyer and the written material. Therefore, it can
be evaluated that it was convenient and provided holistic information. The education strategy
adopted by nurse is successful in meeting the needs of the cancer patient. However, the strategy
could not meet the emotional needs of the patient.
Client care partnerships and their effectiveness
Client care partnership assists in enhancing the patient outcomes as it is based on shared
decision making. This enables the patient to share his unique experiential knowledge. These
partnerships are based on involving the patients and their family members in the delivery of care
(Cardoso and et.al., 2017). Along with this, the client care partnerships also involve other
agencies and personnel for management of cancer. It can be evaluated that the client care
partnerships are useful in better understanding the care goals and needs of the cancer patients.
Further, involving various experts in the care delivery leads to the delivery of holistic care.
As the expertise from both the client and the nurse is combined into a collaborative
partnership, it leads to enhancement in the quality of life of the patient. The client care
partnership is based on reflective listening. It also includes the process whereby the nurse
provides validation to the patients for the latter’s emotions. However, it can be evaluated that for
a collaborative partnership to be effective, it takes time. Therefore, the outcomes of the
partnership may take time to be achieved.
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REFERENCES
Journals
Antoni, M. H., & Dhabhar, F. S. (2019). The impact of psychosocial stress and stress
management on immune responses in patients with cancer. Cancer, 125(9), 1417-1431.
Cardoso, F. & et.al., (2017). Research needs in breast cancer. Annals of Oncology, 28(2), pp.208-
217.
Tsamakis, K. & et.al., (2020). Oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges, dilemmas
and the psychosocial impact on cancer patients. Oncology letters, 20(1), 441-447.
Worrall, S.F. & et.al., (2021). Priorities of Unmet Needs for Those Affected by Colorectal
Cancer: Considerations From a Series of Nominal Group Technique Sessions. Journal of
the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 1(aop), pp.1-7.
Online
Cancer in Australia statistics. (2021). [Online]. Available Through:
<https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/what-cancer/cancer-australia-
statistics>. [Accessed on 18 March, 2021].
Cancer. (2021). [Online]. Available Through: <
https://www.who.int/health-topics/cancer#tab=tab_1>. [Accessed on 18 March, 2021].
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