Person-centred Support for Women After Treatment for Gynaecological Cancer

Women treated for gynaecological cancer perceive many difficulties in life on the personal, social, and physical levels. Today they are offered a 3 to 5 year follow-up programme at the hospital where the main purpose is to improve survival. However, the women are very nervous before follow-up visits and although they feel safe about them, they express that their needs of psychosocial care and self-management support are not fulfilled.

The proposed study will test a person-centred intervention tailored the women's needs in a randomised controlled trial. The intervention will be based on the method Guided Self Determination (GSD), which has proved able to realize empowerment in practice in relationships between patients and healthcare professionals. GSD involves systematic use of condition-adjusted worksheets ('reflection sheets'), and advanced professional communication. Using reflection sheets filled out by each woman as the starting point for communication, problem solving will be tailored her personal needs. We expect that the intervention has the potential to support the women in better managing specific complications and difficulties related to concerns about recovery, body perception, fertility and establishment of intimate relations with their partner, all aspects important for the women's quality of life in the follow-up period after cancer diagnosis and treatment. The study will be the first to test GSD in cancer patients.