ABSTRACT

As cancer patients face long-term health and psychosocial issues from their diagnosis and treatment, many patients are seeking medicinal cannabis to manage their symptoms and treatment side effects. This qualitative study aimed to explore attitudes, barriers, and concerns of cancer patients from one regional community in Australia to gain a better understanding of the experiences faced in using medicinal cannabis. Participants (n = 16) engaged in focus groups or semistructured individual interviews, and an inductive thematic analysis of data was undertaken. Four themes emerged from the data: perceived benefits, access difficulties, uncertainty, and issues of support. The findings revealed a need to provide easy access to accurate information and address the barriers faced by cancer patients in using medicinal cannabis.

IMPLICATIONS

• Despite the growing body of clinical evidence, cancer patients may be faced with bureaucratic and social challenges in gaining access to medicinal cannabis that will require social workers’ individual advocacy.

• Social workers should consider the roles that might be appropriate for them in advocating for policy and legislation changes around access, cost, and other barriers.

• Social workers working in oncology should consider the roles that might be appropriate for them in linking cancer patients to community support and resources, and in assisting cancer patients interested in medicinal cannabis, including an advocacy role.

摘要

由于癌症患者在诊断和治疗过程中面临长期的健康和社会心理问题，许多患者正在寻求药用大麻来控制症状和治疗副作用。这项定性研究旨在探讨来自澳大利亚一个区域社区的癌症患者的态度、障碍和担忧，以更好地了解使用药用大麻所面临的经验。参与者（n = 16）参与焦点小组或半结构化的个人访谈，并对数据进行归纳主题分析。数据中出现了四个主题：感知利益、获取困难、不确定性和支持问题。研究结果表明，需要方便地获取准确的信息，并解决癌症患者在使用药用大麻方面面临的障碍。

影响

• 尽管临床证据越来越多，癌症患者在获得药用大麻方面可能面临官僚和社会挑战，这需要社会工作者的个人倡导。

• 社会工作者应该考虑可能适合他们的角色，以倡导围绕访问、成本和其他障碍进行政策和立法的改变。

• 从事肿瘤学工作的社会工作者应考虑可能适合他们的角色，将癌症患者与社区支持和资源联系起来，并帮助对药用大麻感兴趣的癌症患者，包括宣传角色。