People with cancer sometimes find they need assistance coping with the emotional as well as the practical aspects of their disease. In fact, attention to the emotional burden of having cancer should be an integral part of every patient's treatment plan. Yet all too often it is overlooked.

Cancer support groups are designed to provide a confidential atmosphere where cancer survivors can discuss the challenges that accompany their illness with others having similar experiences. They gather to exchange information about their disease, to discuss practical problems such as managing side effects, or simply to lend emotional support.

Also, family members and friends often need help in dealing with stresses such as family disruptions, financial worries, and changing roles within the family. To help meet these needs, some support groups are designed just for family members of people with cancer; other groups encourage families and friends to participate with the patient.

Your healthcare team should have specific information about local support groups, such as their location, size, type, and how often they meet. Moreover, most hospitals have social service departments that provide information about cancer support programs.

There are actually several different kinds of support groups, depending on an individual's needs or preferences. Support groups may be led by a professional, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, or by other patients. Groups may meet for a particular disease (e.g., breast cancer, prostate cancer, childhood leukemia, etc.), or they may provide more general support.

Many groups are free, but some require a fee. (Check to see if insurance will cover the cost.) In addition, support groups can vary in approach, size, and how often they meet. It is important that you find an atmosphere in which you are comfortable and which meets your individual needs.

A study published in the journal American Psychology reported that many more Americans are taking advantage of support groups, especially in diseases once viewed as more "stigmatizing" such as AIDS, breast cancer and anorexia. And the Internet has had a profound impact on getting people "together" who otherwise might have been hesitant to join a support group.

According to researchers led by Kathryn Davison, Ph.D., of The Human Asset in Dallas, the relative anonymity afforded by online chat groups has made it easier to overcome embarrassment or shyness. Patients are much more open and honest; confiding can occur without immediate social repercussions.

Davison's group also noted significant growth in attendance at "live" support groups in four metropolitan areas that they studied: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas. Interestingly, they found that 60 percent of the groups that described themselves as self-help were professionally facilitated.

"Group participants may not be as resistant to professional input as once thought," they concluded. "Rather, they may need to speak and be heard about issues not being addressed within the healthcare setting."

The self-help movement, added the authors, has tremendous therapeutic potential, especially in the current healthcare environment which they contend has far to go in terms of embracing psychological support as an integral part of the recovery process.

SOURCES:
American Psychology, February 2000
The National Cancer Institute (http://www.nci.nih.gov)