Meeting the needs of cancer support group leaders

社会支持在癌症患者的心理调适中起着举足轻重的作用。支持小组提供独特的意见，但其结果取决于领导者的素质和可持续性。在国际上，人们对癌症支持小组领导人面临的挑战和未得到满足的需求知之甚少，也不知道如何最好地支持他们。这项研究将： A)澄清癌症小组领导人的需求 B)设计和评估满足领导者需求的两种干预措施(最低限度和最高强度)。 如果成功，这项研究将提供证据，世界各地的癌症组织可以基于干预措施来维持癌症支持小组领导人，从而有望改善癌症患者及其照顾者的心理结果。

Social support plays a pivotal role in the psychological adjustment of people with cancer. Support groups provide unique input, but their outcomes are reliant on the quality and sustainability of the leaders. Internationally, little is known about the challenges and unmet needs of cancer support group leaders, or how to best support them. This study will: a) clarify the needs of cancer group leaders b) design and evaluate two interventions (minimal and intense) to meet the needs of leaders. If successful, this study will provide the evidence on which cancer organizations around the world can base interventions to sustain cancer support group leaders and thus hopefully improve psychological outcomes for cancer patients and their carers.