Information needs and sources of information for women with breast cancer: a follow-up study

This paper reports a study which examined the specific information needs and sources of information for 105 women with breast cancer at two time points, the time of diagnosis and a mean of 21 months from diagnosis. At diagnosis the priority information needs concerned survival issues. Further from d...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of advanced nursing Vol. 23; no. 3; p. 487
Main Authors Luker, K A, Beaver, K, Leinster, S J, Owens, R G
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.03.1996
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Breast Neoplasms - nursing
Breast Neoplasms - psychology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Health Services Needs and Demand
Humans
Middle Aged
Nurse Clinicians
Patient Care Team
Patient Education as Topic
Self-Help Groups
United Kingdom
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Summary:This paper reports a study which examined the specific information needs and sources of information for 105 women with breast cancer at two time points, the time of diagnosis and a mean of 21 months from diagnosis. At diagnosis the priority information needs concerned survival issues. Further from diagnosis survival issues were still a concern, but information about the risk to family members of getting breast cancer showed a significant increase in importance. Information about sexual attractiveness was ranked last at both the newly diagnosed and follow-up stages. Information sources at the time of diagnosis centred around the specialist breast care service, while further from diagnosis few professional or voluntary sector sources were utilized, with women receiving most of their information from media sources such as women's magazines. The relevance of these findings for nurses and other health care professionals is discussed.
ISSN:0309-2402
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2648.1996.tb00010.x