The impact of hospice care on families.

The impact of a hospital-based Hospice service for late-stage cancer patients, on the families of fifty-eight bereaved spouses was studied, retrospectively. Hospice care in general was rated significantly higher when compared to the prior care (p less than .001) received by patients and families.

Psychosocial impact of gynecologic cancer.

The stress that a cancer diagnosis places on a patient and family is frequently aggravated by management and treatment, unless considerable attention is paid to psychologic and social coping and adaptational issues. Cancer arouses feelings of helplessness, dependency, guilt, alienation, and vulnerability, and depending on the stage of illness and on the degree of therapeutic mutilation of genital organs, long-term suffering may ensue unless attention is paid to the support-systems available to the patient. Support includes information sharing, exploring fears and fantasies, helping patients feel some element of control, and, not infrequently, putting patients in touch with others who had adapted to the experience.