Integrated psychological care in head and neck cancer: Views from health care providers, patients, and supports.

Abstract

An evaluation by head-and-neck cancer (HNC) staff, patients, and patient support feedback regarding integrated psychological care and perceived benefit based on patient characteristics. Cross-sectional survey of HNC staff, patients, and their primary supports; and retrospective chart review of psychiatric characteristics of HNC patients. HNC staff, patients (who were evaluated by the integrated psychologist), and their primary supports were given questionnaires on their perception of benefit of including a psychologist in the evaluation and treatment of HNC patients. Also, a retrospective chart review on patients who were psychiatrically evaluated by the psychologist on sociodemographics and psychiatric characteristics. Overall, integration of a psychologist was well received by patients, supports, and staff. Younger patients reported greater satisfaction with the availability of the psychologist than older patients (P = .04), and patients with reported psychiatric histories (diagnoses in remission) indicated more satisfaction with the psychologist in relation to managing distress than patients who denied psychiatric histories (P = .03); however, patients who were currently smoking tended to report lower satisfaction with the psychologist helping with distress than those who were past/never smokers (P = .06). Integrated psychological care has the potential to improve care provided for HNC patients. Level 4.