Supportive care includes physical, psychological, social, and spiritual support for patients and their families. There are many types of supportive care. Examples include pain management, nutritional support, counseling, exercise, music therapy, meditation, and palliative care.
Cancer supportive care uses evidence-informed modalities to prevent and manage the side effects of cancer treatment. It’s not meant to directly treat cancer. Instead, the approach is designed to support patients during conventional treatment. Its goal is to address the physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs of patients throughout treatment to improve their quality of life. Therapies may include nutritional support, pain management, behavioral health services and oncology rehabilitation. Anyone on the continuum of cancer—from early stages to survivorship—may benefit from supportive care.
Supportive care also includes palliative care or comfort care. However, patients often misinterpret these terms. When they hear “palliative care” or “comfort care,” some people mistakenly believe they are synonymous with end-of-life care or are only meant for those with advanced cancer. Some patients believe that supportive care is used in lieu of conventional cancer treatment. These misconceptions often keep people from seeking and using beneficial resources designed to prevent and manage side effects of cancer treatment.
Early access to supportive care may help you take preventative measures to avoid or reduce the severity of side effects or complications that may interfere with or delay your treatment.
If you meet with providers who know which side effects and complications are common in patients with your specific cancer type and treatment, they may inform you of warning signs and help you develop a plan to intervene before the situation becomes critical. For example, if you know that nausea is a common side effect of your chemotherapy treatment, addressing that early on with nutritional or other support may lessen the risk of hospitalization due to dehydration and malnutrition. And if you do need to be hospitalized for some reason, you’re more likely to have a shorter stay.
An integrative-minded oncology care team may screen new cancer patients for other health concerns that threaten to interfere with treatment or quality of life, referring the patients to appropriate supportive care services as needed. If you’re already suffering from depression or anxiety, for instance, a behavioral health therapist may help you develop the skills necessary to cope with your new diagnosis and treatment. In fact, some researchers report that early access to supportive care may also improve the mental health and quality of life of patients’ family caregivers.
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