Cancer Survivors Interventions

I chose the article A Closer Lens: Cancer Survivors’ Supportive Interventions Received and Preferred (Arch et al., 2018a), which I found while starting my counseling degree at Mercer in May 2019. I transferred to Wake Forest University a year later, but this article shaped the trajectory of what I want to do with my degree. I currently work in oncology diagnostic sales, and this article gave me the idea to marry my passion for cancer care and community mental health counseling. I want to specialize in counseling patients and families touched by cancer. This study outlines the unmet psychological needs of cancer survivors with reported findings of a preference for non-pharmacological support and a gap between the psychological support they prefer and the support they receive. Arch et al. (2018) identified that two-thirds of cancer survivors felt they needed or may have needed a counselor or support group during their cancer journey, but only half of that group received support.

Arch et al. (2018) also found that cancer survivors’ need for psychological support was met significantly less often than their need for information about their cancer and recurrence prevention. Individual counseling support was significantly favored over psychiatric medication when meeting their needs with a preferred source. Arch et al. (2018) also found that medical oncologists were favored as a delivery source for preferred psychological treatment over social workers.

In May 2019, I wrote that I hoped this study could be used to help move the counseling discipline forward in reimbursement. Most cancer patients are of the age to receive Medicare, but at the time of the article, the psychological services provided by Licensed Professional Counselors were not reimbursed by CMS. In December 2022, CMS changed its coverage decision and announced that it would reimburse licensed professional counseling services. This expands the possibility of working with more cancer patients and their families. A spark of a dream that started in 2019 has become more of a reality every day, and I am excited for the journey ahead.