Badger, T.A., Segrin, C., Figueredo, A.J., Harrington, J., Sheppard, K., Passalacqua, S., . . . Bishop, M. (2011). Psychosocial interventions to improve quality of life in prostate cancer survivors and their intimate or family partners. Quality of Life Research, 20, 833–844.
To test the effectiveness of two telephone-delivered psychosocial interventions for maintaining and improving quality of life
The first intervention was by-telephone interpersonal counseling (TIP-C) delivered weekly for eight weeks to prostate cancer survivors and every other week for eight weeks to partners. The second intervention involved eight weekly health education attention condition (HEAC) sessions delivered by telephone.
Repeated-measures experimental design
Improvements in depression, negative affect, stress, fatigue, and spiritual well-being were significantly greater for survivors receiving the HEAC intervention than for those receiving the TIP-C intervention.Compared to partners in the TIP-C intervention, partners in the HEAC group showed significantly greater improvements in depression, fatigue, perceived social support from family members, social well-being, and spiritual well-being.
Both interventions in this study were effective in improving multiple dimensions of quality of life for men with prostate cancer and their partners.
Both interventions were effective, but additional research is needed. Health education may be just as effective or more effective in helping patients and caregivers than individualized counseling.