Using narratives to understand the psychosocial impact and meaning making of those diagnosed with a secondary cancer diagnosis

As the number of cancer survivors and the duration of survival increases in the UK, there is an increasing interest in psychosocial care, to improve outcomes for cancer patients. Previous literature reviews have focussed on research from around the world. The aim of this review was to look at the evidence for the impact of psychosocial interventions on the mental health and well-being of cancer patients, since the publication of the cCancer Rreform sStrategy in the UK in 2007. The review focused on thirteen studies of interventions, which addressed mental health and well-being in cancer patients. There was no agreement on the best method of intervention, but the studies reported give some support to the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques, psycho-education and bibliotherapy. There is also also some support for lower level interventions (e.g. self-help interventions,), exercise, less labour intensive interventions, and complementary therapiesinterventions. The quality of the reviewed studies was limited and more research in this area needs to be generated to establish an evidence base within the UK. Limitations are identified with the variety of measures used to assess mental health, well-being Formatted: No underlineFormatted: No underlineFormatted: CenteredFormatted: No underline
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and quality of life in these studies, and the use of more standardised measures is recommended to allow easier comparisons between studies for future research. (203)