Psycho‐oncological care in certified cancer centres—a nationwide analysis in Germany

Abstract

Compared with non-certified centres, the proportion of patients receiving psycho-oncological care in certified cancer centres has increased.

Utilization of professional psychological care in a large German sample of cancer patients

“…Certified cancer centers documented an uptake rate of 37.3% [10], compared to 32.5% estimated by a survey of acute care hospitals, mostly certified cancer centers, in breast cancer [11] and 11% in a large non-certified cancer center [12]. A populationbased study with long-term survivors of breast cancer reported that 16% had received ambulatory psychotherapy or psychosocial counselling [13].…”

Psychosocial Care for Cancer Patients

“…However, the reality may be quite different as hospitals have often been reluctant to establish such services due to financial restrictions. Therefore, in a recently published study, the data from 456 certified cancer centers were analyzed addressing the quality of implementation of professional psychosocial care [20]. The data available show that psycho-oncological care has been improved in acute care, although there are still gaps in demand and delivery of services across urban and rural areas [21].…”

Quality assessment in prostate cancer centers certified by the German Cancer Society

“…Comparison with other center types that have the same criteria show that implementation is higher in breast and colorectal cancer centers [20,21], which may be due to gender-specific patient preferences.…”