Support for women suffering from cancer through comprehensive education and psychosocial support of their caregivers
Taking care of women with breast cancer is a highly demanding task, which enforces their 24-hour monitoring, involving their family members as care-givers, who are being asked to offer nursing services as well as psychological support. As a consequence, care-givers have to deal with their physical, emotional, psychological and financial burden. This condition, combined with the lack of medical consultation to the care-givers makes their education on integrated patients’ care and support at a psychosocial level a necessity in order to respond effectively to their crucial role.
Taking into consideration the need for care-givers’ alleviation and empowerment as well as the big number of women with cancer from the Region of Western Greece and Ionian Islands who receive cure services at the oncological clinics of Patras’ hospitals (General University Hospital of Patras “All Holy Theotokos” and General Hospital of Patras “Saint Andrews”), the suggested project’s object is the development of new, advanced methods for the integrated fulfillment of women’s with cancer and their care-givers’ needs. These methods include: a) educating care-givers in offering nursing care and psychologically supporting them, through regular meetings in groups coordinated by scientific experts. The duration of each educational cycle will last three months. b) the creation of open groups of care-givers’ psychosocial support, which will originate from the groups of case (a).
Additionally to these innovative methods, informative actions for sensitization about breast cancer (8 – 9 per year) will be carried out in municipalities of Western Greece Region, attracting participants from distant areas.
Working with experienced oncology doctors and nurses, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, nutritionists and legals, the final aim of the proposed project is to have educated 80 care-givers by the completion of 24 months time.
