Jl. Krupnick et al., PROFESSIONALLY-LED SUPPORT GROUPS FOR CANCER-PATIENTS - AN INTERVENTION IN SEARCH OF A MODEL, International journal of psychiatry in medicine, 23(3), 1993, pp. 275-294
Objective: The objective of this review was to evaluate the clinical a
nd research literature on professionally-led support groups for cancer
patients and to propose an approach that would address patients; need
s from diagnosis through survivorship. Method. Computerized and manual
searches, including Medline and Psychlit searches, were completed for
reviews of the literature. Twelve research studies were identified th
at met our criteria for in-depth review. A clinical model emerged from
discussions of an oncology study group based on theoretical formulati
ons and clinical experience with oncology patients. Results: We found
that recent research suggests that professionally-led support groups a
re increasing in number and that participation in such groups seems to
enhance patients' quality, and possibly even quantity, of survival. D
espite this, little effort has been made to determine what type of gro
up may be appropriate for which patients and when in their course of c
are. Conclusions: If psychosocial intervention, in the form of profess
ionally-led support groups for cancer patients, is to be more effectiv
e, ii should be guided by a model which takes into consideration the c
hanging needs and concerns of patients over the course of illness and,
in many cases, recovery. The authors present an outline delineating w
hat such a model might entail.