Il Legame Cruciale nella Malattia Oncologica: un progetto di ricerca in itinere

[Autom. eng. transl.] The recent development of studies in psycho-oncology, stimulated by progress in the diagnosis and treatment of neoplastic diseases, has allowed the collection of empirical observations and multiple data concerning the psychosocial aspects of the tumor disease with particular regard to the relationship between patients, their families and the context social and relational. The most accredited research paradigm, which will frame both the diagnostic evaluation and the clinical treatment, is the biopsychosocial one, attentive to the complex relationships between the biological, the mental and the social. The objective of the present project is to investigate, through intervention research, the crucial links of cancer patients (those links that can be established with partners, relatives, attending physicians) that turn out to be more supportive in facing the test of the disease. This will be possible through three different phases: in the first one the styles of adaptation to the disease will be compared in patients with different oncological pathologies (solid tumors-systemic tumors) and the quality of the relationship between patient and caregiver will be investigated; in the second phase the establishment of clinical intervention groups (designated patients and caregivers) is envisaged; in the third phase the effectiveness of this intervention will be evaluated. Therefore, the study has a particular relevance both for the theoretical implications and for an application perspective for the development of integrated care models and approaches.