Psycho-oncological care of melanoma patients in certified skin cancer centers

Background: The establishment und certification of skin cancer centers (SCCs) in compliance with requirements issued by the German Cancer Society play a key role for quality-assured treatment of skin cancer patients. These requirements also call for the implementation of a qualified psycho-oncology program. When planning the present study, we assumed site-specific differences in the way such programs were implemented at various SCCs.

Methods: In 2014, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of all SCCs certified at the time (n = 43), in which these institutions were asked to provide information on the structural and process quality of their psycho-oncology programs.

Results: Overall, 81.4 % of certified SCCs (n = 35) participated in the survey. Thirty-seven percent of SCCs directly employed personnel trained in psycho-oncology. Nearly all facilities offered information/counseling, crisis intervention, one-on-one discussions, and palliative/end-of-life care as part of their psycho-oncology program. Standardized screening tools were commonly used to evaluate patients' need for psycho-oncological support. Eighty-three percent of psycho-oncology programs primarily focused on inpatients. On average, 25.2 % of melanoma patients received psycho-oncological support. Ninety-seven percent of SCCs stated that the certification requirements had actually improved the psycho-oncological care of their patients. Seventy-one percent of SCCs reported to be satisfied with the implementation of the requirements.

Conclusions: The certification of institutions as SCCs has led to the implementation of personnel, structural, and content requirements relating to psycho-oncological care. The majority of SCCs surveyed reported to be satisfied with the quality of care thus achieved.