Review article
Self-guided interventions for managing psychological distress in people with cancer – A systematic review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2016.12.009Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Self-guided interventions are diverse for content and delivery.

  • There was limited evidence for the effectiveness of self-guided interventions.

  • There is a need to generate evidence to optimise self-guided interventions.

  • Self-guided interventions often require some level of facilitation.

Abstract

Objective

People with cancer can experience psychological distress but do not always desire, or engage with, professional support to assist with managing distress. Interventions that are self-directed or guided by patients may hold promise as they allow patients to engage with interventions as they need. The objective of this review is to describe and appraise the evidence for effectiveness of self-guided interventions that aim to manage psychological distress in people with cancer.

Methods

A systematic search of Medline, PsychInfo and CINAHL identified 15 relevant papers, reporting on 14 studies.

Results

Of the interventions, three studies comprised hard-copy workbooks, six studies used resource packs, four were online resources and one was a brief multimedia resource. One study was adequately powered and demonstrated a positive effect. Almost all interventions required some level of facilitation. Distressed participants may benefit more from interventions.

Conclusion

Self-guided interventions represent a potentially efficient way of delivering support for people affected by cancer, however evidence supporting them is lacking.

Practice implications

There is a need to generate evidence to understand the impact of self-guided interventions for: i) the ideal delivery point in the disease trajectory, ii) patient groups, iii) intervention content and iv) type and mode of delivery.

Keywords

Self-directed
Self-guided
Self-management
Cancer
Psychological
Distress
Interventions

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