Korean J Hosp Palliat Care.  2009 Mar;12(1):5-13.

Information Needs and Satisfaction among Family Members of Terminal Cancer Patients through Phone Cancer Information Services

• Kwon KE
• Kim BH
• Chang YJ
• Kim HJ
• Jung Y

Abstract

PURPOSE: This exploratory study was undertaken to analyze the information needs of family members of terminal cancer patients, collected through the telephone counselling service by National Cancer Information Center.
METHODS
The study included 113 family members of terminal cancer patients who had enrolled at the National Cancer Information Center for the period from June, 2007 through March, 2008 and had agreed to the survey.
RESULTS
The subjects (n=113) consisted of grown-up children (n=82) and spouses (n=8) of patients'. Those in their 40's (n=40) and 30's (n=36) accounted for the majority of the sample. The questions raised most were about the information on treatment methods (n=117), management of terminal cancer patients (n=46), terminal cancer patients' life (n=27), deathbed and prediction of remaining life (n=18), hospitalization (n=16), and financial support (n=15). Most of the subjects were satisfied with the telephone counseling services, and 69% of the subjects had come to know about the telephone counseling service via Internet, and 10.6% of them stated that the PR for the service was poor.
CONCLUSION
It is deemed essential for the government to use the mass media for PR of the hospice services, since family members of terminal cancer patients' are less aware of the hospice conducive to enhancement of patients' remaining quality of life, being involued too deeply in their treatment.

Keyword

Terminal cancer; Cancer; Information services; Satisfaction; Familymembers

MeSH Terms

Child
Counseling
Financial Support
Hospices
Hospitalization
Humans
Information Centers
Information Services
Internet
Mass Media
Quality of Life
Spouses
Telephone