Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death overall, with 1.5 years life expectancy and minimal therapeutic progress in the last decades. Despite the burden it causes, there is ...little research on the needs of this specific population. This study aimed to explore healthcare professionals' views on providing care and patients' unsatisfied needs.
This qualitative descriptive study was carried out at a cancer hospital in Northern Greece. A total of 12 participants (6 physicians and 6 nurses), treating patients with pancreatic cancer undergoing chemotherapy, were recruited through purposive sampling and underwent face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed through the thematic analysis method in NVivo12 software.
The analysis highlighted two themes: "needs of patients with pancreatic cancer" consisted of 6 subthemes ("daily activities", "symptoms management", "psychological support", "information needs", "multidisciplinary care" and "end-of-life care") and "needs of healthcare professionals" had 3 subthemes ("psychological support", "education" and "organizational support"). Several symptoms are identified and affect the daily activities of these patients, and psychological support is important for the majority of them, even at the time of diagnosis. The participants express dissatisfaction with the absence of palliative care structures and services and stated that an interdisciplinary approach would improve the quality of care.
Healthcare professionals report a wide range of unsatisfied needs of patients with pancreatic cancer, with the majority expressing their concerns about the complete lack of patient support in the last stages of their lives.
The aim of this qualitative research, conducted in Spring 2021, was to identify the inconveniences and the psychological and social impact of 10 days of home isolation, required by law, in ...non-hospitalised COVID-19 patients in Greece and to improve management. Thirty-seven semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted, audio-recorded, and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis identified four key emergent themes, i.e., everyday life during self-isolation, psychological issues, social issues, and information and guidance. Food provisioning was of particular concern. Solidarity was expressed to individuals in need. Isolation was not always viable due to space constraints and the necessity to care for sick family members. Fear of transmission to vulnerable groups, hospitalisation, irreversible complications, and death as well as anxiety, insecurity, guilt, and alienation were articulated. COVID-19 disrupted the normal functioning of families and led to revision of interpersonal relationships. Patients avoided re-integration in society due to the transmitter stigma and to limit the risk of infection spread in the community. Over-information promoted fear. Mild illness raised doubts about information validity. Primary care provided monitoring and psychological support. Home isolation caused disruption in various aspects of participants’ life, ranging from logistic problems to dealing with the psychological burden of isolation and illness. Primary care could play a central role in supporting patients.
Nurses experience high levels of stress associated with the demands of their workplace. Anxiety and depression symptoms are common in this occupational group and the necessity of supportive actions ...is vital. This is especially true for nurses working in high intensity and demanding settings such as oncology units.
This study examined the effects of a music intervention on anxiety, depression, and psychosomatic symptoms of oncology nurses.
Forty-eight oncology nurses, were randomized to either an intervention group (n = 22) attending four consecutive weekly 1-h music classes or a control group with no intervention (n = 26) who maintained their usual lifestyle habits, for one month. Intervention group played and improvised music using percussion instruments. Courses consisted of varied multitask exercises of progressive difficulty, sometimes involving team playing, or individual performances. Depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms were measured before and after the end of the intervention. Anxiety and depression were assessed with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Psychosomatic symptoms were assessed with Pennebaker Inventory οf Limbic Languidness.
Anxiety, depression and psychosomatic symptoms significantly reduced for the intervention group at the end of the study. No statistical significant change was observed for the control group in any of the three psychological indicators.
The findings of our study highlight the fact that music can be a cost-effective resource in developing interventions to reduce stress and improve well-being. Playing music can be the next step for further investigation, since we already know that listening to music is beneficial.
•An intervention to examine the impact of music on well-being of nurses working in a high intensity setting.•Participants in a music class had reduced levels of anxiety, depression and lower frequency of psychosomatic symptoms.•Music can provide a low-cost, feasible and attractive way to alleviate some of the stressors of oncology nurses.
The purpose of the present study was to explore informal caregivers’ experiences of supporting family members with pancreatic cancer.
A qualitative descriptive study was conducted with individual ...semi-structured telephone interviews and inductive thematic analysis. Data were collected from 10 informal caregivers in the only cancer hospital in Northern Greece.
The findings of the thematic analysis highlighted three themes, “supportive needs of patients with pancreatic cancer”, “supportive needs of informal caregivers” and “evaluation of provided care”. In the first theme, four individual subcategories of themes emerged: “psychological support”, “managing symptoms and side effects”, “daily activities” and “participation in decision-making”. The theme “supportive needs of informal caregivers” consists of five sub-themes, “psychological support”, “support in care activities”, “financial support”, “communication with the patient” and “information”. Finally, the theme “evaluation of provided care” three sub-categories of topics were reported, “staff evaluation”, “process evaluation” and “palliative care”.
Pancreatic cancer patients and their informal caregivers experience multiple unmet needs. The health system, lacking an efficient treatment for this type of cancer, should provide a basis for improving the quality of life of these families with targeted support interventions.
•Pancreatic cancer patients have unmet needs in many aspects of their lives.•The informal caregivers of these patients face many challenges.•The need to improve the quality of their limited life expectancy is imperative.
