Systematic review of psychological therapies for cancer patients: overview and recommendations for future research.

Many cancer patients use psychological therapies because they expect them to cure their cancer or to improve their recovery. Despite these high expectations, both patients and oncologists report being moderately to very satisfied with the results of psychological therapies. Previous reviews of the literature have concluded that psychological therapies may help cancer patients in various ways, ranging from reducing the side effects of cancer treatments to improving patients' immune function and longevity.

Can personal health record booklets improve cancer screening behaviors?

Background: Despite the widespread use of written health education materials as interventions, relatively few studies have adequately evaluated the effectiveness of such materials on changing healthcare behaviors in the general population.

Setting/participants: The study consisted of ten matched pairs of small rural towns in New South Wales, Australia, with a total combined population of approximately 25,000 in both the intervention and control group towns. A randomized controlled trial was used.