Sahai: A restorative support to address unmet needs of women with cancer – impact on quality of life

Abstract

Background: Several important factors affect directly or indirectly the quality of life of women with cancer in India. Several unmet needs were found to be unaddressed. This program aims to empower the patient, improve quality of life and encourage them to actively participate in the healing process. Hospitals and oncologists are challenged to develop programs that support the growing number of cancer patients. Failure to address leads to decreased compliance and outcomes. Methods: Patients will be enrolled to participate in the introductory half a day program after obtaining informed consent and completing the pre assessment form (physical, psychological and socio-economic domains, along with demography, diagnosis and details of treatment received). Program deals with confidence building tips on grooming, Skin and hair care, management of external prosthesis and wigs, lymphedema prevention, Nutritional advice, De-stressing and relaxation techniques Functional exercises for fitness and rehabilitation through supervised fitness and restorative yoga practices. Following the introductory program women are invited to join the 5 day session. The main intervention during this period is supervised yoga, motivation and counseling, meditative practices, guided relaxation, music, dance therapy. The tools used for assessment pre and post intervention are the assessment questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HADS) scale. Many of the physical problems in these women led to emotional problems such as anxiety and depression hence the HADS scale was used. Results: 370 patients were enrolled in the study-86% of patients had breast cancer. Age ranged between 26-76 years. 75% of patients were below 60 years. 18% of the patients below 40 years had breast cancer. The burden of unmet needs was primarily issues related to appearance, hair loss, skin changes, body image, arm swelling, impairment of cognitive factors and emotional problems like depression, anxiety and worry. The percentage of patients with anxiety and depression pre and post intervention Conclusions: This preliminary study shows that such unique, multidimensional supportive care programs have a significant impact on quality of life through treatment into survivorship phase.