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Biomedical subjects

B Pfefferbaum

Publications and source records attributed to B Pfefferbaum.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Sources of information about cancer as perceived by adolescent patients, parents, and physicians.

As survival time has been extended for young cancer patients, their informational needs have also increased. Using written questionnaires, we surveyed 63 adolescent patients, 60 parents, and 53 physicians to compare their perceptions of patient-communication patterns and current and preferred information sources. Physicians were the main current and preferred information sources noted by all three groups. Group discussions with patients the same age, films and television programs, and books were ranked as acceptable but less preferable sources by more than half of each group. More than 90% of the patients were usually accompanied by a parent. Patients most frequently sought their parents to discuss general concerns and cited parents as their second most frequently used source of disease-related information. Adolescents qualified their parental discussions more than was perceived by their parents (P less than 0.01) and viewed themselves as discussion initiators more frequently than did their parents (P less than 0.05). Parents were more likely than patients to prefer physicians as their child's information source (P less than 0.05). Physicians consistently underestimated their own and the parents' importance, believing instead that the patients relied more on peers. Fewer physicians than patients or parents favored including parents in discussion with health professionals (P less than 0.001).

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A comprehensive program of psychosocial care for mastectomy patients.

The traumatic experience of the discovery of a lump in the breast, the diagnosis of cancer and eventual mastectomy have focused medical attention on the importance of providing adequate psychosocial care for mastectomy patients. This paper outlines a comprehensive program now underway. This program includes the premastectomy (preventive), postoperative (interventive) and recovery (postventive) periods. To secure more information for this program, an initial project examining the psychological effects of mastectomy on women and their spouses has been undertaken. It is anticipated that these findings will be helpful in identifying some of the problems encountered and aid in the success of the program in attaining the desired results.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pediatric oncology: a review of the changing psychological aspects.

This paper outlines the psychological concerns in pediatric oncology. Taking an historical perspective, early concerns pertained to issues of death and dying and what to tell the child about his diagnosis. With the marked improvement in the early diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancer, the psychological issues have changed considerably. There is ample evidence to indicate that psychological problems in the child and his family result from the turmoil from these diseases. However, current concerns may focus on problems of living rather than problems of dying. The child and his family being encouraged to live as normal a life as possible, may need assistance from the professional community in the attempt to achieve this status. This presents an ever increasing need for the health care professional to interface with not only the child and his family, but also with the school and community at large so that the child and his family alone do not shoulder the burden of the normalization process and so that the school and community may be in a better position to assist in the reintegration process.

Attitude to Death↗