Strengthening family supports. Cancer and the family.

The family, not merely the diagnosed individual, experiences the demands and contingencies of cancer. There is substantial cumulative evidence that these illness-related demands occur during the early stages of illness diagnoses and treatment as well as during the ongoing illness experience. Pressures seem to exacerbate during disease recurrence. The partner, as well as the school age children, are affected by the illness experience. For the partner there is the problem of depression and marital tension. Such factors, in turn, affect the partner's relationship with the children and the child's subsequent psychosocial adjustment. Support programs for the family, as well as the patient, are clearly indicated. Many types of supportive services seem indicated: informational, interpretive, anticipatory, physical, skill building, and problem-focused services.