| Abstract: |
Frailty, in addition to its physical implications, brings about a set of neuropsychiatric and psychosocial challenges that must be screened for, assessed thoroughly, and managed closely in the cancer setting. These psychosocial problematics such as anxiety, depression, cognitive deficits, and deficient social support are commonly encountered yet underreported and often poorly managed among older cancer patients with frailty. Oncology clinicians play an essential role in identification, assessment, and management of these neuropsychiatric symptom clusters, and the psychosocial aspects of care. Treatment decisions in the oncology setting are inevitably complex and are influenced by psychosocial factors. Close attention to the psychosocial dimension at all stages of cancer, from early cancer diagnosis to survivorship, from early conversations of palliative care till the terminal stages of cancer, improves care of the older adult with cancer and therefore is a sine a qua non in the care of these patients. A strong social network is more important than ever for the cancer patient with frailty, to support patients and the care teams through the cancer trajectory. This chapter will provide an overview of the commonly encountered psychosocial issues in older adults with cancer and frailty. It will review the assessment and management of common problematics such as anxiety, depression, suicide ideation, fatigue, sleep disturbances, substance-use disorders, and deficient social support. The problematic of cognitive impairment is presented on a separate chapter. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. |
