Cancer nursing
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Although patients with head and neck cancer are at increased risk for depressive symptoms compared with other cancer patients, few longitudinal studies have evaluated changes in and predictors of this symptom over time. ⋯ Knowledge on prevalence, time course, and predictors of depressive symptoms from this study can be used to identify patients at higher risk for more severe depressive symptoms.
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Clinical Trial
Palliative Cancer Patients' Experiences of Participating in a Lifestyle Intervention Study While Receiving Chemotherapy.
Lifestyle interventions have promise in terms of their potential health benefits and as an empowerment tool for cancer patients. Nevertheless, documentation of palliative cancer patients experiences of participating in lifestyle interventions remains poor. ⋯ This study provides a unique insight into the palliative cancer patients experiences of participating in a trial focusing on multiple lifestyle interventions while receiving chemotherapy. The results may provide guidance for healthcare professionals in their efforts to help palliative cancer patients adopt a healthier lifestyle and to help patients increase their coping abilities.
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Resilience is commonly used to refer to the capacity to resist negative psychological reactions when encountering aversive circumstances. However, clinicians generally define resilience as a lack of psychological distress or an adoption of positive attitude in response to a potentially traumatic event. Although resilience was initially considered to be a psychological variable, it has gradually become seen as a psychosocial indicator now used in clinical settings in the Western world but is still a relatively new topic in most Eastern countries. In this study, we aimed to extend our understandings of the psychological responses of a group of mainland Chinese parents upon being informed that their children were diagnosed with cancer, using resilience as a major indicator. ⋯ Additional attention should be given to those Mainland Chinese parents who demonstrated a low level of resilience in response to their child's diagnosis. This is particularly important because of the long and stressful process for cancer treatment. Clinicians should also provide targeted interventions to those parents to promote their psychological resilience.