Development and pilot testing of a psychoeducational intervention for oral cancer patients

• Published in: Psycho-oncology (Chichester, England) Vol. 13; no. 9; pp. 642 - 653
• Main Authors: Katz, Mark R., Irish, Jonathan C., Devins, Gerald M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.09.2004; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Anxiety - diagnosis; Anxiety - etiology; Anxiety - therapy; Body image; Body image disturbances; Canada; Cancer; Clinical trials; Cognition Disorders - diagnosis; Coping strategies; Cost of Illness; Demography; Female; Health Education; Hospitalization; Humans; Intervention; Male; Mental Health Services - supply & distribution; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - psychology; Mouth Neoplasms - rehabilitation; Mouth Neoplasms - surgery; Multidisciplinary teams; Neuropsychological Tests; Oncology; Oral cancer; Patient Care Team; Patients; Pilot Projects; Postoperative Care; Preoperative Care; Psychoeducational treatment; Psychological distress; Psychosocial factors; Psychotherapy; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tests; Canada
• ISSN: 1057-9249; 1099-1611
• DOI: 10.1002/pon.767

Objective: Oral cancer elicits considerable distress in both the pre and post‐treatment periods. This paper details the development, validation and pilot‐testing of a psychoeducational intervention for oral cancer patients. Method: An educational booklet covering information about oral cancer and its treatment and effective coping strategies was developed by a multi‐disciplinary team. It was evaluated by patient focus groups and content/educational experts, delivered to subjects in pre and post‐operative presentations by a health educator, and pilot‐tested in a randomized controlled trial versus standard care. Results: Pilot data from 19 subjects (10 psychoeducation, nine standard care) indicates that the intervention is feasible and highly acceptable. At follow‐up the intervention group showed a gain in knowledge, less body image disturbance, lower anxiety and a trend toward higher wellbeing. Conclusion: This program, which is currently being evaluated in a larger RCT with extended follow‐up, should prove useful in reducing the psychosocial burden of oral cancer and its treatment. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.