2017 Volume 29 Issue Special_issue Pages 103-109
Patients with physical illnesses might have psychosocial problems, including limitations caused by their illness and its treatment, as well as distress associated with their possible death. As a result, many patients with physical illnesses might suffer from mental health problems triggered by psychosocial difficulties. Therefore, psychological care for people with physical illnesses is an important issue in medical settings. Cognitive behavioral treatment is known to be effective for these patients. Direct behavioral care has been provided for such patients, although the provision of indirect behavioral care by health providers has lacked systematic strategies. The case study of a cancer patient provided intervention by behavioral consultation is described and psychological care of patients with physical illnesses is discussed. The results indicated that the behavioral consultation decreased the patients' distress through the enhancement of nurse's self-efficacy and skills for providing psychological care. This facilitated the empowerment of both health providers and the patients. It is suggested that future studies should be designed to obtain convincing evidence of the efficacy of behavioral consultations in medical setting.
