In Meeting Psychosocial Needs of Women with Breast Cancer, the National Cancer Policy

Board of the Institute of Medicine examines the psychosocial consequences of the

cancer experience. The book focuses specifically on breast cancer in women because

this group has the largest survivor population (over 2 million) and this disease is the

most extensively studied cancer from the standpoint of psychosocial effects. The book

characterizes the psychosocial consequences of a diagnosis of breast cancer, describes

psychosocial services and how they are delivered, and evaluates their effectiveness. It

assesses the status of professional education and training and applied clinical and

health services research and proposes policies to improve the quality of care and

quality of life for women with breast cancer and their families. Because cancer of the

breast is likely a good model for cancer at other sites, recommendations for this cancer

should be applicable to the psychosocial care provided generally to individuals

with cancer. For breast cancer, and indeed probably for any cancer, the report finds

that psychosocial services can provide significant benefits in quality of life and success

in coping with serious and life-threatening disease for patients and their families.



Table of Contents


Front Matter
Executive Summary
1 Introduction
2 Epidemiology of Breast Cancer
3 Psychosocial Needs of Women with Breast Cancer
4 Psychosocial Services and Providers
5 The Effectiveness of Psychosocial Interventions for Women with Breast Cancer
6 Delivering Psychosocial Services
7 Barriers to Appropriate Use of Psychosocial Services
8 Research
Appendix A Meeting Psychosocial Needs of Women with Breast Cancer
Appendix B Tables and Boxes Summarizing Evidence from Clinical Trials