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Maribo T.1,2, Handberg C.1,2, Jensen C.M.3
1Aarhus University, Section for Clinical Social Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Public Health, Aarhus, Denmark, 2DEFACTUM, Central Denmark Region, Aarhus, Denmark, 3Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Haematology, Aarhus, Denmark
Background: Systematic assessment of rehabilitation needs is prerequisite for sufficient rehabilitation, but little is known about patients' needs.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe specific stated rehabilitation needs and plans among patients with cancer at hospitals when diagnosed and when municipal rehabilitation begins.
Methods: Needs-assessment-forms for rehabilitation from 188 cancer patients from two hospitals and two municipal cancer rehabilitation programmes were analysed. The forms included 1) stated needs: 58 fixed areas categorised in six domains and 2) an area to document the rehabilitation plan. All data were categorised using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).
Results: A total of 188 patients; 89 at hospitals and 99 in municipalities stated their needs during the study period. Of the patients at hospitals 47% completed a rehabilitation plan and 54% of the patients in the municipality. In total 666 needs were stated at the hospitals and 836 in municipalities with a mean number of stated needs at hospital on 7,5 and 8.0 in municipalities. The needs stated were primarily within the ICF component "body functions and structure" and most frequent needs were (hospitals/municipalities): fatigue (57%/67%), reduced muscle strength (55%/67%) and being worried (37%/36%).
Conclusion(s): The results underpin the urgent need for a systematic procedure on assessment of needs in clinical practice as it is prerequisite for identifying present needs, completing rehabilitation plans and enable referral to rehabilitation. The ICF framework proved useful in gaining insight into the distribution and specifics of stated needs and plans and further seemed potential as a framework to studies within cancer rehabilitation. Gaining knowledge on needs assessment and the specifics of needs and plans facilitates targeted rehabilitation interventions.
Implications: Systematic needs assessment in cancer rehabilitation unveil the requirement of physical rehabilitation. Supervised physical activity renders an intervention possible tailored the special needs cancer patients have. This includes handling both the physical and physiological side of rehabilitation.
Funding acknowledgements: This study was supported by the foundation “Folkesundhed i Midten", Denmark.
Topic: Oncology, HIV & palliative care
Ethics approval: Obtained from the Ethical committee for Central Denmark Region and from Danish Data Protection Agency approval [no. 2007-58-0010]
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
