Healthcare providers' perspectives of the supportive care needs of men with advanced prostate cancer.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To examine healthcare providers' (HCPs') perceptions of the supportive care needs of men with advanced prostate cancer (APC).

RESEARCH APPROACH

A qualitative, descriptive study.

SETTING

Healthcare facilities caring for men with APC in a south-central region of Ontario.

PARTICIPANTS

19 nurses, physicians, and allied health providers who cared for men with APC in outpatient settings.

METHODOLOGIC APPROACH

Interviews and focus groups.

FINDINGS

HCPs identified four themes related to men's supportive care needs: pain and symptom management, informational needs, emotional needs, and the need for practical assistance. HCPs emphasized issues related to pain, urinary incontinence, and fatigue. They also reported that men continually ask for more information related to treatment, side effects, and prognosis. PARTICIPANTS identified a variety of barriers in meeting supportive care needs, including lack of management strategies, poor knowledge retention, and the "stoic and old-school" nature of men in this population.

CONCLUSIONS

Supportive care for this population can be improved through more focused implementation of interprofessional care, with clearly defined professional roles and additional specialized roles to address prostate cancer pain, urinary incontinence, and fatigue.

INTERPRETATION

Specialized roles in the management of pain, urinary incontinence, and fatigue affecting men with APC could be integrated into interprofessional care to meet supportive care needs.