title: Self-guided interventions for managing psychological distress in people with cancer - A systematic review.
abstract: People with cancer can experience psychological distress but do not always desire, or engage with, professional support to assist with managing distress. Interventions that are self-directed or guided by patients may hold promise as they allow patients to engage with interventions as they need. The objective of this review is to describe and appraise the evidence for effectiveness of self-guided interventions that aim to manage psychological distress in people with cancer.
  
  
  
  A systematic search of Medline, PsychInfo and CINAHL identified 15 relevant papers, reporting on 14 studies.
  
  
  
  Of the interventions, three studies comprised hard-copy workbooks, six studies used resource packs, four were online resources and one was a brief multimedia resource. One study was adequately powered and demonstrated a positive effect. Almost all interventions required some level of facilitation. Distressed participants may benefit more from interventions.
  
  
  
  Self-guided interventions represent a potentially efficient way of delivering support for people affected by cancer, however evidence supporting them is lacking.
  
  
  
  There is a need to generate evidence to understand the impact of self-guided interventions for: i) the ideal delivery point in the disease trajectory, ii) patient groups, iii) intervention content and iv) type and mode of delivery.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia; Cancer Information and Support Service, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: a.ugalde@deakin.edu.au.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ugalde
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Kerry
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Haynes
authors.affiliation: Cancer Information and Support Service, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Department of Nursing, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boltong
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Centre for Cancer Research, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Meinir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krishnasamy
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Swinburne University, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Penelope
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schofield
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Cancer Council Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Sanchia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aranda
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Livingston
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D019212:Multimedia; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D000073278:Self-Management / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Cancer; Distress; Interventions; Psychological; Self-directed; Self-guided; Self-management