Needs Assessments Enhance Patient-Centered Care Quality
Journal
Journal of Nursing Research
Journal Volume
27
Journal Issue
6
Date Issued
2019
Author(s)
Abstract
Patients with chronic diseases under treatment often have various care needs that require a stepped assessment across the longitudinal course of an illness, including pre-diagnosis, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery periods. Several key domains of supportive care needs such as physical, informational/educational, emotional/psychological, practical, social and spiritual needs of an individual with chronic disease have been identified (Valery et al., 2015). In particular, the supportive care needs of people with cancer have received increasing interest in recent decades in order to guide the development of new services that address the social impact of cancer (Harrison, Young, Price, Butow, & Solomon, 2009). Today, care for the unmet needs of chronic patients has focused on many long-term and vital-organ diseases (e.g., brain, heart, liver), with the service scope extending from inpatient to community settings. Moreover, identifying the care needs of caregivers may help maintain or improve chronic care quality, family well-being, and quality of life (Lapid et al., 2016). Distinguishing the type and magnitude of care needs for chronic patients and their caregivers is critical to formulate a better care plan in nursing interventions. This issue of The Journal of Nursing Research includes studies on needs assessments and interventions for different target populations, including patients with advanced cancers of the lung and head-and-neck, patients with diabetes, patients with ischemic heart disease, older patients receiving residential care, and dementia-patient caregivers. Chen et al. and Lai et al. focused on head-and-neck cancer patients and identified key care needs using, respectively, an oral care needs assessment and a 9-item Supportive Care Needs Survey Screening Tool (SCNS-ST9-C). The latter study provided basic psychometric information for the future exploration into and development of interventions to address the unmet care needs of patients with various cancer diagnoses. In addition, two original articles revealed the supportive care needs and related factors of lung cancer patients in terms of informational and psychological needs as well as quality of life. Cognitive functions and depressive symptoms were identified in the articles in this issue as important psychological care elements and mental health indicators among diabetes and cancer patients as well as dementia-patient caregivers. Nurses are taking a more independent and leading role in offering patient-centered, standardized care / interventions that support the patient/caregiver dyad to improve psychological and behavioral consequences during chronicity. Readers are encouraged to read the three studies by Pan et al., Eshah, and Wazqar regarding psychological assessment, interventions, and behavioral changes. The articles in this issue highlight the great potential for nurses to explore various care needs assessments, interventions, and evaluations in chronic patients using evidence-based studies. It is evident that chronic diseases rely on the early detection of multiple care needs, particularly psychological needs. Early identification of mental health problems facilitates the engagement of professional management and support services at an early stage in order to prevent psychological deterioration. With the provision of tailored and individualized care, nurses will be in a better position to meet the multifaceted needs of patients with chronic diseases while enhancing quality of life in the long-term recovery process.
SDGs
Type
editorial