Effective Strategies For Increasing The Hope In Patients With Cancer

Patients with cancer are faced with numerous physical and psychological problems that lead to lackof hope. Hope is a complex multidimensional and strong factor in recovery and effective adaptationof patients with cancer and its complications. Enhancing the hope level in these patients is animportant action and accompanied with satisfaction results. This study was conducted with the aimof assessing effective strategies for increasing the hope in patients with cancer. The present studyis a narrative review in which researchers conducted their computer search in public database likeGoogle Scholar and more specifically databases such as Web of Science, Science Direct and PubMedwith using keywords such as hope, strategies, cancer, social support, counselling and selectedarticles from 2000 to 2016. Overall 25 articles have been searched. Researchers reviewed thesummary of all articles searched, 5 articles are excluded due to non-relevance and ultimately, theyapplied 20 full articles to compile this review. Researcher’s finding regarding effective strategiesfor increasing the hope in patient with cancer were categorized in 3 sections. Counselling strategiessuch as spirituality therapy group sessions or the presence of religious leaders in a hospital orclinic, holding individual and group counseling for patients and listen to their concerns and crisismanagement in disappointment patients, social and familial strategies like social and familysupport, having sympathetic care givers, to encourage strong family connections, providingeconomic resources of treatment and accompany patient in treatment process, psychiatrist’stherapeutic-supportive strategies such as appropriate treatment rapport with patient, acceptancepatient’s projection, educating problem focused coping skills and help to psychological adjustmentwith disease and positive reinforcement, supportive psychotherapy with the aim of increasingoptimism and acceptance of the disease in patients. For improvement hope strategies amonghospital’s personals, considering periodic education for nurses of oncology ward regardingpsychotherapy styles and crisis management seems helpful. Also presence of graduated midwiferycounseling who familiar with promoting hope strategies in ovary and breast cancers wards orpresence of religious leaders in hospital are proposed.