Psycho-Social and Financial Problems of Cancer Patients: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major non-communicable diseases which increase morbidity and mortality in India. Many people become victims due to Cancer. WHO (2008) define Cancer as a disease in which some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. The present study is conducted to understand the psycho-social and financial problems of Cancer patients and find out the responsibilities of medical and psychiatry social workers in cancer settings. It is a quantitative study that adopted the descriptive research design. The purposive sample is employed and collected data from 50 cancer patients through a structured interview schedule. The study found that 27.5% of the respondents were diagnosed with blood cancer, followed by 25.5 per cent of the respondents diagnosed with breast cancer, and 13.7 per cent of the respondents diagnosed with lung cancer. It is observed that in many (70.6%) patients’ history or family history one was affected with cancer or died with cancer. It is found that 30 per cent of the respondents have weakness of the body, (25%) fear the future, (25%) fear the treatment, (16%) have depression and (15%) have anxiety, (12%) have Distress, (8%) isolation, (5%) loss of focus and (4%) self-Harm. This shows that the majority have weakness of the body followed by fear of the future and treatment, anxiety and Depression. The majority of respondents or patients lost jobs (25.5%) followed by (23.5%) of respondents who stopped business and lost attachment to their families and the least stopped farming after being admitted to hospital because of cancer. The study suggested that the government should initiate more cancer treatment centers because is a costly treatment in the private sector.