Assessing the needs of people living with cancer on Prince Edward Island: A psychosocial approach

The needs of 139 people living with cancer in Prince Edward Island were examined in this cross-sectional descriptive quantitative study. Primarily close-ended telephone interviews were used to identify the informational, practical and financial, as well as emotional, spiritual, and social needs of cancer patients. Level of health care service accessibility, the degree and desired mechanism in which needs are being, and can be, met were also explored. Overall, information needs ranked high among cancer patients in Prince Edward Island. Over half of patients expressed a need for several types of information. The two most common places patients look for information are health care professionals (66%) and the Internet (50%), and patients prefer to receive information via pamphlets and written materials (86%). Managing side effects such as pain, nausea, and fatigue (30%) was the most often reported practical need, as well as the most often reported unmet practical need (40%). Between 25% and 30% of patients reported several needs related to emotional, spiritual and social concerns, with roughly half of patients stating that these needs had not been met. Over half of participants (57%) indicated that they would like to receive support through individual visits with a cancer survivor, or through access to a central staff person that could guide cancer patients through their cancer experience (53%). Many patients stated that their health care services needs were accessible all of the time.