Determinants of visits of cancer patients to Dutch Community Based Psychosocial Support Centres (CBPSCs)
Author(s):
Adriaan Visser
Aim: The psychosocial support for cancer patients in the mental health care is often limited because of difficulties in access and the expense to patients. In response, informal regional support centers have been developed in the Netherlands called “Community-based Psychosocial Support Centres (hereinafter: CBPSCs) for cancer patients and relatives. They offer supporting complementary activities and professional psychological help which are easily accessible and free of charge. We studied the use (frequency, duration and future use) and the determinants of the visits to CBSPCs.
Method: Visitors covering 701 cases from 25 CBPSCs filled-out a web-based questionnaire, answering questions about how often they contacted CBPSCs (frequency, duration and future use) and which personal factors, mainly based of the ASE model, influenced the use of CBPSCs. Also, the well-being of the patient, the evaluation of the visits and the significance of the support received were studied as dependent variables, in addition to the role of the ASE factors, applying multivariate analyses. All sum scores showed a strong internal consistency.
Results: Most patients did not know what CBPSCs are or where to find them. About one-fifth was alerted by family, friends and acquaintances. Another 20% was informed about CBPSCs by hospital oncology nurses and through leaflets. Patients rarely reported being referred by their GPs and medical specialists. Health care providers in hospitals were much better informed about CBPSCs, referring approximately half of their patients to CBPSCs. Around two thirds of the patients visited the CBSPC once a week for 2 to 3 hours and intended to continue these visits in years to come. Present use generally showed that the most important determinants are the attitude towards the visits, whether the patient is a recent visitor, the patient’s perceived significance of the visits and having a socially-inactive lifestyle.
Conclusions: The study confirms the high value that this type of organisation provides in informal support in cancer care. The CBPSCs need to improve their visibility in the healthcare system through more public campaigns and better information to patients. More countries should introduce and stimulate this type of easily-accessible, cheap, effective and highly-valued supportive care centres, and explore the needs of patient and family members.