Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Latest
    • Archive
    • home
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
    • Join SMJ
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Office
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Advertising
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Folders
    • Help
  • Other Publications
    • NeuroSciences Journal

User menu

  • My alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
Saudi Medical Journal
  • Other Publications
    • NeuroSciences Journal
  • My alerts
  • Log in
Saudi Medical Journal

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Latest
    • Archive
    • home
  • Info for
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Institutions
    • Advertisers
    • Join SMJ
  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Editorial Office
    • Editorial Board
  • More
    • Advertising
    • Alerts
    • Feedback
    • Folders
    • Help
  • Follow psmmc on Twitter
  • Visit psmmc on Facebook
  • RSS
NewsThe Cochrane Library
Open Access

Addressing social needs may help mitigate distress and improve the health of women with cancer

Saudi Medical Journal October 2021, 42 (10) 1155-1156;
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF
Loading

JULY 12, 2021 - A new study published by Wiley early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, has identified unmet social needs in women with gynecologic cancer that could be addressed to improve care for patients and lessen disparities. For example, identifying patients who reported needing help with reading hospital materials resulted in the use of a cancer care navigator who provided patient education and support, facilitating physician-patient communication and adherence to care recommendations.

The prospective survey-based study conducted at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, a public safety net hospital near Los Angeles, included 135 women, many of whom were immigrants and living below the federal poverty level. Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of patients had at least one unmet social need (the lack of a basic resource), and 37.8% of patients screened positive for psychological distress. Help with reading hospital materials was the most frequently reported need (30.4%). Needing someone to talk to, social isolation, housing instability, financial toxicity, food insecurity, and transportation difficulties were also prevalent.

“While it is not within the power of individual healthcare systems or providers to modify social determinants of health, these data offer hope that we can implement programs to reduce healthcare disparities by addressing unmet social needs,” said senior author Abdulrahman K. Sinno, MD, of the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “It’s important that we focus on addressing social needs regardless of the social, economic, and political inequities that precede them because these needs are ultimately downstream mediators of poor health outcomes.”

In addition to using cancer care navigators to help with reading hospital materials, other social needs such as food insecurity, housing instability, and lack of transportation were addressed by connecting patients with available resources. These resources include Meals on Wheels America, Project Angel Food, county-sponsored housing programs, and transportation assistance programs. Furthermore, for patients who screened positive for distress, a social worker with mental health specialization and a psychiatry team were embedded into the clinic to remove barriers to mental healthcare.

“In the future, we plan to demonstrate the utility and cost effectiveness of identified social need intervention algorithms not only for improving quality of life and health outcomes, but also for reducing healthcare disparities,” said Dr. Sinno.

Full Citation: “Universal social needs assessment in gynecologic oncology: An important step towards more informed and targeted care in the public safety net.” Natsai C. Nyakudarika, Christine H. Holschneider, and Abdulrahman K. Sinno. CANCER; Published Online: July 12, 2021 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.33761).

URL Upon Publication: http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/cncr.33761

Copyright © 2021 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., reproduced with permission.

  • Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal

This is an Open Access journal and articles published are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC). Readers may copy, distribute, and display the work for non-commercial purposes with the proper citation of the original work.

PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Saudi Medical Journal: 42 (10)
Saudi Medical Journal
Vol. 42, Issue 10
1 Oct 2021
  • Table of Contents
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Saudi Medical Journal.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Addressing social needs may help mitigate distress and improve the health of women with cancer
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Saudi Medical Journal
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Saudi Medical Journal web site.
Citation Tools
Addressing social needs may help mitigate distress and improve the health of women with cancer
Saudi Medical Journal Oct 2021, 42 (10) 1155-1156;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Share
Addressing social needs may help mitigate distress and improve the health of women with cancer
Saudi Medical Journal Oct 2021, 42 (10) 1155-1156;
Twitter logo Facebook logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
Bookmark this article

Jump to section

  • Article
  • eLetters
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Global study assesses teen vaping
  • Is children’s reading ability affected by their sleep?
  • How have people’s daily activities affected mood during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Show more The Cochrane Library

Similar Articles

CONTENT

  • home

JOURNAL

  • home

AUTHORS

  • home
Saudi Medical Journal

© 2025 Saudi Medical Journal Saudi Medical Journal is copyright under the Berne Convention and the International Copyright Convention.  Saudi Medical Journal is an Open Access journal and articles published are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (CC BY-NC). Readers may copy, distribute, and display the work for non-commercial purposes with the proper citation of the original work. Electronic ISSN 1658-3175. Print ISSN 0379-5284.

Powered by HighWire