Measuring the Prevalence of Psychosocial-Related Factors in Predicting Depressive Symptoms of Cancer Patients and Their Primary Caregivers
Julia N. Trout, MPH, MSW; Dr. Anne Frankel, PhD. Temple University, Philadelphia, PA; Courtney Bresler-Nowak, MSW, LSW. Penn Medicine: Abramson Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.
Purpose/hypothesis: This project will focus on measuring the relationship between social support and depressive symptoms among cancer patients and their caregivers receiving care at Penn Medicine: Abramson Cancer Center (PMACC). Additionally, an evaluation of the social support resources provided by PMACC will be conducted to examine the social support and mental health needs and expectations of their oncology population.
Number of participants: 23 dyads (cancer patients and caregivers) receiving oncology care through PMACC engaged in the survey. Seven individuals engaged in the optional semi-structured interviews.
Methods/materials: Cancer patients and caregivers will be administered a 40-item survey that measures basic demographics, social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), and depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). The semi-structured interviews contained themes to measure awareness of the social work department and the impact the social support and mental health services had on the patients and caregivers.
Results: In measuring the relationship between total perceived social support score and the total depression score, the two variables were negatively correlated (r(444), -.343, p=.02). While there was a lack of initial awareness between the oncology community and the social work department, once they became aware of the department and services, positive experiences and met needs were expressed.
Conclusions: Oncology patients and primary caregivers at PMACC documented a negative association between depressive symptoms and perceived social support. While there was an initial lack of awareness of the social work department, once the population became aware, positive experiences and met needs were expressed.
