Which Self-management Strategies Do Health Care Professionals Recommend to Their Cancer Patients? An Experimental Investigation of Patient Age and Treatment Phase

Overview

Journal J Behav Med

Specialty Social Sciences

Date 2018 Oct 25

PMID 30353398

Citations 2

Authors

Nadine Ungar

Laura Schmidt

Martina Gabrian

Alexander Haussmann

Angeliki Tsiouris

Monika Sieverding

Karen Steindorf

Joachim Wiskemann

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

This vignette based study aimed to examine recommendations of health care professionals (HCPs) in promoting self-management strategies to cancer patients. Nine-hundred-forty-two physicians and nurses were asked to (1) indicate if they would recommend self-management strategies to a vignette cancer patient, and (2) to specify those in an open format. Vignettes included a manipulation of patient age (60 vs. 75 years) and treatment phase (currently treated versus treatment completed). Six categories emerged through coding a total of 2303 recommendations: physical activity (71.8%), nutrition (64.3%), psychological support (36.7%), medical support (29.2%), conscious living (17.2%) and naturopathy (12.3%). While psychological support was particularly recommended during treatment, physical activity was more frequently recommended after completion of treatment. Results suggest that HCPs recommend a variety of self-management strategies besides standard medical treatment. Patient's treatment phase and age seem to partly influence recommendation behavior, potentially indicating insecurities regarding acute treatment situations and age-related stereotypes.

Citing Articles

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Below N, Fisher A, Epstone S, Reynolds J, Pugh G Support Care Cancer. 2020; 29(5):2613-2620.

PMID: 32964260 PMC: 7981325. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-020-05746-w.

The Influence of Cancer Patient Characteristics on the Recommendation of Physical Activity by Healthcare Professionals.

Haussmann A, Ungar N, Tsiouris A, Sieverding M, Wiskemann J, Steindorf K Int J Behav Med. 2019; 27(1):65-78.

PMID: 31823182 DOI: 10.1007/s12529-019-09833-z.

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