Implementation of psychosocial services in managing emotional stress.

Psychological services for breast cancer patients call for several elements in the inpatient, outpatient, and home settings. In the inpatient setting, comprehensive services include Reach-to-Recovery, social work, and psychiatric consultation services, and structured psychological support available to the staff. In the outpatient setting, comprehensive services include social work and psychiatric consultation and support for the staff, but in addition programming for the patient's family is crucial, with a balance of services which include both education and emotional support in regard to the patient's disease. In the home setting, when dying breast cancer patients are to be considered, the needs for psychological consultation and emotional support for the visiting nursing personnel becomes paramount.