Better Life for Cancer Patients with Mental Health and Palliative Support
Palliative care and mental health care can benefit pancreatic cancer patients and should be focused on more, suggests healthcare professionals.
Reports have been ongoing to understand the link between palliative care and mental health support for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The combined treatment strategy can improve the quality of life for these patients. However a recent study shows that these services are severely underutilized.
A study with 4000+ participants shows a link of palliative care and mental health care for patient recovery
Experts from the Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research at Saint Louis University conducted a research on how palliative care and mental health care can work for pancreatic cancer patients, as published in Healthcare, the peer-reviewed MDPI journal. They studied 4029 adults with pancreatic cancer diagnosis over a period of eight years between 2010 and 2018. The experts working on this research took detailed account of the influence of pharmacotherapies and mental health services for pancreatic cancer patients over this period.
Data showed that around 45.7% of the patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer attended palliative care consultations within a year of the diagnosis. They pursued mental health support to manage their feelings of depression and anxiety. On the other hand 28.5% of patients who did not get palliative care chose not to utilize mental health care.
During a challenging situation like getting diagnosed with a life threatening condition people face a high amount of stress and depressive thoughts. Using mental health services can greatly enhance their quality of life. The findings of the research imply that prioritizing palliative care makes it more likely for patients to use mental health care for a comprehensive recovery.
The team of researchers from The Advanced HEAlth Data (AHEAD) Institute which is a part of the Department of Health and Clinical Outcomes Research conducted this study. These experts theorize that adopting an integrated interdisciplinary approach using mental health and palliative care practices can significantly help patients.
“Our study emphasizes underutilization of [palliative care (PC)] and [mental health (MH)] treatment for pancreatic cancer patients,” the authors of the study stated. “These findings imply a crucial need for further investigation into palliative care’s role in addressing mental health concerns among pancreatic cancer patients.”
Researchers find that this approach may suit patients with both depression and anxiety better
The data also shows that people getting palliative care for only depression or anxiety are not prescribed mental health counseling, pharmacotherapy or other such therapies immediately. Doctors and healthcare systems give precedence for mental health support to patients experiencing both depression and anxiety receiving palliative care as they deem their situation to be more critical. This study suggests that it is better to utilize mental health services and palliative care for more patients including those who have either depression or anxiety but not both. Further research is therefore needed.
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