The Psychosocial Team and the Difficult-to-Treat Patient

Abstract

The main focus of investigations, treatment programs, and strategies for managing the problems of cancer patients and their families has been on how individual health care staff members treat individual patients and families. This article discusses the issues involved in organizing a psychosocial team, the team's functions and responsibilities, its strengths and weaknesses, and how team members work together to treat difficult patients. Models of team approaches in three settings-a radiotherapy center, an oncology unit, and the oncologist's office-are provided, and case vignettes are used to illustrate problems presented by difficult patients as well as those related to unresolved issues such as team leadership.