Title : Analysis of Taiwan's policies on the psychological well-being of lung cancer patients: A literature review
Abstract:
Background:
In 2019, the global death toll from lung cancer was 204,260 individuals. Lung cancer accounted for 13,861 deaths among males and 6,565 deaths among females, making it one of the deadliest cancers among malignant tumors (Ji et al., 2023). Depression is one of the common accompanying symptoms in lung cancer patients, which can increase the risk of suicide. The prevalence of depressive symptoms in lung cancer patients is 43.77% (Xing et al., 2023). Patients with advanced stage (III-IV) cancer often experience severe psychological distress and a decreased quality of life due to their illness and the potential for death. Additionally, they need to communicate about their illness with their children, maintaining their role as good parents while experiencing emotional concerns during interactions with their children. This leads to a decrease in parenting efficiency. Moreover, spouses of patients who are jointly raising children are also susceptible to a lower quality of life and higher psychological symptoms such as depression. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify domestic and international policies related to the mental health of cancer patients and adolescents under 18 years of age, in order to further improve the phenomenon of parental estrangement between lung cancer patients and their children.
Methods:
Regarding the issue of psychological well-being in lung cancer patients, a literature search will be conducted using key terms and synonyms, including "lung cancer patients" and "mental health," across five major databases (CINAHL, Medline via EBSCOhost, PubMed, PsycARTICLES, Airiti library).
Results:
After reviewing foreign policies, it is found that compared to domestic strategies, the advantages are:
1. The multidisciplinary nature of psycho-oncology teams, which consist of professionals from various fields, allows for interventions in families, communities, and schools to assist cancer patients and adolescents with psychological issues.
2. Remote psychological health services interventions can address psychological issues in other family members (spouses, children) of cancer patients.
Conclusions:
In the aspect of policy analysis, it has been found that lung cancer patients experience severe psychological issues, and psychological problems in children and adolescents are also common. Currently, Taiwan lacks specific policies or plans for addressing psychological issues in children and adolescents. Therefore, referencing strategies for cancer patient psychological well-being from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Singapore, it is observed that enhancing the diversification of psychological counseling services and implementing remote psychological health services to assist in multiple counseling sessions between cancer patients and children can yield a higher cost-benefit ratio for cancer psychological health.
Audience Take Away:
- Utilizing a literature review to understand the current status of policy formulation regarding the psychological well-being of lung cancer patients in Taiwan.
- Using policy arguments and foreign policy schemes, it is found that diversifying psychological counseling services and implementing remote psychological health services can improve the psychological well-being of lung cancer patients and enhance parent-child interaction with adolescents.
- Utilizing remote psychological health services increases the utilization rates among lung cancer patients and adolescents, consequently reducing depression.
