Self-Management for Head and Neck Cancer Survivors: Living Well With and Beyond HNC

Lead Researcher:

Prof Pamela Gallagher

Award Date:

1 January 2013

Host Institution:

Irish Cancer Society

Scheme:

Medical Research Charities Group Co-Fund Award

Summary:

The aim of this research is to develop and test a self-management intervention to promote participation and quality of life and reduce distress in people who have completed primary treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC). This type of cancer and its treatment are associated with unique challenges such as facial disfigurement and impairments in speech, breathing and swallowing, which can cause significant disruptions in physical, social and psychological wellbeing. There is a lack of psychosocial interventions to help HNC survivors live well and beyond cancer. Using cognitive restructuring techniques (e.g. adapting negative thinking) and coping skills training, self-management (SM) interventions provide skills needed to deal with health-related problems, maintain life roles, and manage negative emotions, and have been found to increase confidence, improve quality of life, and reduce health service utilisation across a range of chronic conditions. The absence of a robust and theoretically based self-management intervention to underpin the transition to life after primary cancer treatment is notable in light of the evidence for such an approach and the widespread application of SM interventions in other chronic diseases. Developing a SM intervention for HNC survivors following the completion of primary treatment may help them to overcome the unique challenges associated with this disease. The research will consist of four phases, each contributing independently to gaps in our knowledge and collectively to the development of an intervention: (1) systematic reviews to collate the evidence on psychosocial outcomes in HNC survivors, their attitudes, beliefs and behaviours regarding SM, and SM interventions for cancer survivors; (2) interviews with healthcare professionals and HNC survivors to better understand their experiences, attitudes and beliefs relating to the SM of HNC symptoms and treatment consequences; (3) a quantitative study to investigate various factors associated with SM, their interrelationships, and associations with sociodemographic and clinical variables in this patient group; and (4) specification and pilot testing of the new intervention. This is a timely study that will address priority areas identified in national and international policy.