Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer
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Support Care Cancer · Jun 2013
Occupational therapy needs of patients with thoracic cancer at the time of diagnosis: findings of a dedicated rehabilitation service.
Guidelines recommend screening patients with cancer to identify their rehabilitation needs. To help quantify this area of need and associated workload from an occupational therapy perspective in patients with thoracic cancer, we report the experiences of a dedicated rehabilitation service. ⋯ About half of patients with thoracic cancer screened have occupational therapy needs around the time of diagnosis. Problems are mostly in the area of self-care, with equipment provision the most frequent intervention provided. Future work should examine the efficacy of occupational therapy interventions further.