Psychological support for Queensland's rural breast cancer patients

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer of women in Australia. Psychological morbidity in breast cancer patients is common. Rural patients with the disease have added burdens of travel and accommodation, disruption to family lives, lack of treatment choice and difficulty in access to information. Good practice care for patients includes not only appropriate medical treatment but also the provision of accurate information, psychosocial support and coordinated care. Breast Care Nurses provide continuity of support from diagnosis to completion of treatment. Although well established elsewhere, adoption of BCN has been slow in Australia.