, but personality and addiction disorders were also mentioned.
“Recent research indicates that mental health generally has declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly concerning for patients with cancer who are already at an increased risk for mental health distress,” said Heidi Hunter, President of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions.
The survey also explored oncologists’ views on the effective use of palliative care for patients with advanced cancer.
There was strong agreement among oncologists (68%) that early introduction of palliative care leads to better outcomes for patients with advanced cancer, but only 17% said they refer patients to palliative care at the time the metastatic disease is diagnosed.
The main barriers in delivering effective palliative care cited by survey participants were resistance from patients and caregivers (39%) and lack of staff dedicated to palliative care (28%).
A majority of participants (74%) said better tools are needed to educate patients with advanced cancer about how palliative care can enhance their quality of life.
In addition, 45% said better data and predictive analytics are needed to help clinicians determine when to refer patients for palliative care.
Source: Medindia
