Evaluation of the first social consultation in oncology: a series of 200 cases

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the clinical social work in onc ology. We present a series of 137 men and 63 women treated for cancer (mean age: 57 y; 20-90) who were addressed (65%) or came spontaneously (35%) for a first social consultation; 45 consultations concerned the family at the day of death of the patient. The collected data (expressed requests, evalua ted real difficulties, orientations of the social work, necessity of networ k) are correlated with the medical data and the time between diagnosis and social consultation. The social intervention is often brief (95%) and focus ed (66%). A medical and social network is used in 70% of cases. The adminis tration and psychosocial problems predominate with an important discordance between the requests and the evaluated difficulties. The metastatic status increase psychosocial, legal difficulties and problems of the organisation of home-care. The delay of the social consultation has great influence upo n the legal difficulties. The family's difficulties, after the patient's de ath are administrative (93.3%), psychosocial (84.4%) and legal (68.9%). Cli nical social work is part of the global management of patients and their fa milies; its quality has direct implication on their daily life during and a fter treatment.