A Critical Overview of the Construct of Supportive Care Need in the Cancer Literature - Definitions, Measures, Interventions and Future Directions for Research

Sep 21, 2026

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The growing evidence on supportive care demonstrates its importance for improving cancer patients’ outcomes, yet inconsistent definitions, theoretical paradigms, and measurement tools for unmet needs limit universally accepted evidence-based guidelines. Contemporary cancer literature shows patients still report high unmet supportive care needs and that many proposed interventions have low effectiveness. This critical review consolidates conceptual understanding by presenting definitions, areas of expertise, and detailed overviews of measurement and intervention proposals, then discusses reasons for gaps and priorities for future research.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Context of cancer as an illness trajectory

The burden of supportive care needs

Review A Critical Overview of the Construct of Supportive Care Need in the Cancer Literature: Definitions, Measures, Interventions and Future Directions for Research Marco Miniotti *, Rossana Botto , Giovanna Soro, Alberto Olivero and Paolo Leombruni Citation: Miniotti, M.; Botto, R.; Soro, G.; Olivero, A.; Leombruni, P. A Critical Overview of the Construct of Supportive Care Need in the Cancer Literature: Definitions, Measures, Interventions and Future Directions for Research. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 215. [https://](https://)[ ](https://)[doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21020215](doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21020215) Academic Editors: Nicola Magnavita and Diana Poli Received: 4 December 2023 Revised: 26 January 2024 Accepted: 29 January 2024 Published: 12 February 2024 Copyright: © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ([https://](https://)[ ](https://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[ ](creativecommons.org/licenses/by/)[4.0/](4.0/)) . ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’ Department of Neuroscience, University of Turin, 10126 Turin, Italy; rossana.botto@unito.it (R.B.); giovanna.soro@unito.it (G.S.); alberto.olivero@unito.it (A.O.); paolo.leombruni@unito.it (P.L.) * Correspondence: marco.miniotti@unito.it; Tel.: +39-01-1633-4200 Abstract: The growing amount of evidence about the role of supportive care in enhancing cancer patients’ outcomes has made healthcare providers more sensitive to the need for support that they experience during cancer’s trajectory. However, the lack of a consensus in the definition of supportive care and lack of uniformity in the theoretical paradigm and measurement tools for unmet needs does not allow for defined guidelines for evidence-based best practices that are universally accepted. Contemporary cancer literature confirms that patients continue to report high levels ofunmet supportive care needs and documents the low effectiveness of most of the interventions proposed to date. The aim of this critical review is to consolidate the conceptual understanding of the need for supportive care, providing definitions, areas of expertise and a careful overview of the measurement tools and intervention proposals developed to date. The possible reasons why the currently developed interventions do not seem to be able to meet the needs, and the issues for future research were discussed. Keywords: supportive care needs; cancer; psychosocial oncology; patient-reported outcomes; assessment 1. Introduction Cancer can be conceptualized as an unexpected life event or a series of events across the illness’ trajectory. For some, cancer can be experienced as a single event, with a defined beginning and ending. For others, cancer can become a constant in their lives. For all, cancer involves entry into a cancer care system, each one from different points, with different paces, along different paths. This consists of a complex experience of events, reactions and interactions, from diagnostic investigation through to diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, follow-up and then, survival for some, recurrence and death for the others, that become embedded in daily life. Illness-related demands take time away from life, hinder purposes and businesses, interfere with plan-and decision-making and alter relational and intimate balances, with negative sequelae on family members’ physical and mental health. Moreover, when people are facing a life-threatening illness, thoughts about the meaning in life, mortality and the afterlife typically arise [1,2] . People living with cancer must address a broad spectrum of changes and challenges, as the disease puts a strain on the resilience of the person in every way. As cancer occurs, patients must face physical symptoms, such as weight loss, fatigue and pain. Moreover, a cance

FAQs

Why is there no consensus on supportive care needs in cancer literature?

The review highlights a lack of consensus in the definition of supportive care and insufficient uniformity in theoretical paradigms and measurement tools for unmet needs.

What do contemporary cancer studies report about unmet supportive care needs?

Patients continue to report high levels of unmet supportive care needs, and most interventions proposed to date show low effectiveness.

What is the aim of the critical review?

To consolidate conceptual understanding of supportive care needs by providing definitions, mapping areas of expertise, and critically overviewing measurement tools and intervention proposals, alongside future research issues.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Anda