Investigation on Influences of Cancer Diagnosis on Patients and their Relatives

Objective To study the impacts on Austrian-Chinese patients and their relatives when the diagnosis is "cancer".Methods A qualitativ e data collect ion strategy was selected.Patients were recruited from three major teaching hospitals in Sy dney and from a Chinese cancer support organization.Sampling was discont inued when informational redundancy was achieved.Four focus groups ad 26 individual telephone interviews were conducted with a total of 36 cancer patients and 12 relatives.Results When the diagnosis was "cancer",there were negative impacts on the patients and their relatives.emotion,daily activity,careers,family and community interaction.There were also negative impacts on the patients.body imag e and the relatives.psychological and physical health.Most people had problems on psychological adjustment.Conclusion Bio-psy cho-social medical model should be used in daily work of oncology.Related professional organizations and the community should help these people to have psycho logical adjustment effectively in order to improve their health status.