Reflections on a Health Psychology Service for Patients with Uveal Melanoma: The Challenge of Psychological Screening and Intervention When Distress is 'Normal'

Hope-Stone, Laura, Ablett, Janice and Salmon, Peter ORCID: 0000-0001-6450-5209 (2019) Reflections on a Health Psychology Service for Patients with Uveal Melanoma: The Challenge of Psychological Screening and Intervention When Distress is 'Normal'. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY IN MEDICAL SETTINGS, 26 (4). pp. 421-429.

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Abstract

We appraise the role of screening for distress as part of health psychology assessment of patients newly diagnosed with cancer. We reviewed records of consecutive patients who accepted a health psychologist's assessment over 4 years, examining convergence and divergence of the result of screening (whether patients reached threshold as 'cases') with the psychologist's clinical judgment of need for intervention. Of 261 patients, 88 (33.7%) were 'cases'. Of these, need for psychological intervention was identified in 70 (79.5%). Of the 173 (66.3%) 'non-cases', need was identified in 59 (34.1%). Examination of cases where the psychologist's judgment diverged from screening showed that 'caseness' can arise from distress that patients can manage themselves and, conversely, that psychological needs arise in the absence of overt distress. Formal screening may not identify need for psychological intervention. The psychologist's role is to make expert judgments of patients' current and future needs. Dialogue with patients should be the vehicle for assessment.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Cancer, Assessment, Screening, Distress, Coping, Intervention
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	27 Nov 2018 10:09
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 01:11
DOI:	10.1007/s10880-018-9595-2
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3029094