Navigating Concurrent Diagnoses With Cancer and Mental Health Disorder: Patients' Perspectives on Personalised Treatment and Care.
Kim Jørgensen, Maria Estrup Scredi, Kathrine Holmstrøm Ougaard and 5 others
PMID 42163811WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with cancer and mental health disorders said oncology care was competent but focused on the body, leaving distress overlooked.
They carried coordination alone, hid symptoms from stigma, and felt safer with predictable, relational care.
Key findings
01Patients described oncology care as organised around cancer as a somatic disease, so mental health needs were often left out of care planning.
02Patients experienced becoming their own coordinator across oncology, psychiatry, primary care and social services as exhausting and overwhelming.
03Patients said predictable, repeated and written information helped them feel safe and involved in care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was conducted in Danish oncology departments, so experiences may not transfer to other healthcare systems. Only one male participant was included, so male perspectives may be underrepresented. It included only patients, not healthcare professionals, so clinical reasoning and constraints were not captured. Diagnoses came from existing records and were not independently assessed by the research team. Recruitment through clinical settings and voluntary participation may have introduced gatekeeping and self-selection. Formal member checking was not undertaken.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest and reported nothing to report.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as proof that any communication or coordination change improves outcomes. The study describes 11 patients' experiences and cannot show cause and effect.