The effects of a problem-solving intervention with spouses of cancer patients

The effectiveness of a Coping With Cancer (CWC) intervention program for spouses of cancer patients was compared to the usual services that are offered to the spouses of cancer patients by the Oncology Department of a regional medical center. Sixty-six spouses of cancer patients were recruited and randomly assigned to one of two groups-30 to the CWC program and 36 to usual services and were assessed both before and after the intervention and again six months after the first assessment on measures of (1) perceived health status, (2) psychological well-being, (3) social support, and (4) coping behavior. The results indicated that patients whose spouses received services from the CWC program became significantly less depressed than did patients whose spouses did not. However, no other significant effects of the program were found for patients or spouses.