Information needs and sources of information for women with breast cancer: a follow-up study |
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| Authors: | Karen A Luker PhD BNurs RGN RHV DN Cert Kinta Beaver BA RGN DPSN Samuel J Lemster BSc MD FRCS R Glynn Owens BTech DipPsych DPhil AFBPsS |
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| Affiliation: | Professor of Community Nursing, Department of Nursing, University of Liverpool;Macmillan Research Associate, Department of Nursing, University of Liverpool;Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool, England;Professor of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand |
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| Abstract: | This paper reports a study which examined the specific information needs and sources of information for 105 women with breast cancer at two time points, the time of diagnosis and a mean of 21 months from diagnosis At diagnosis the priority information needs concerned survival issues Further from diagnosis survival issues were still a concern, but information about the risk to family members of getting breast cancer showed a significant increase in importance Information about sexual attractiveness was ranked last at both the newly diagnosed and follow-up stages Information sources at the time of diagnosis centred around the specialist breast care service, while further from diagnosis few professional or voluntary sector sources were utilized, with women receiving most of their information from media sources such as women's magazines The relevance of these findings for nurses and other health care professionals is discussed |
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