Development and pilot testing of a psychoeducational intervention for oral cancer patients

OBJECTIVE: Oral cancer elicits considerable distress in both the pre and post-treatment periods. This paper details the development, validation and pilot-testing of a psychoeducational intervention for oral cancer patients. METHOD: An educational booklet covering information about oral cancer and its treatment and effective coping strategies was developed by a multi-disciplinary team. It was evaluated by patient focus groups and content/educational experts, delivered to subjects in pre and post-operative presentations by a health educator, and pilot-tested in a randomized controlled trial versus standard care. RESULTS: Pilot data from 19 subjects (10 psychoeducation, nine standard care) indicates that the intervention is feasible and highly acceptable. At follow-up the intervention group showed a gain in knowledge, less body image disturbance, lower anxiety and a trend toward higher wellbeing. CONCLUSION: This program, which is currently being evaluated in a larger RCT with extended follow-up, should prove useful in reducing the psychosocial burden of oral cancer and its treatment.