Distress, the 6(th) vital sign in cancer care Caring for patients’ emotional needs: what does this mean and what helps?

Distress has been endorsed as the 6(th) Vital Sign by the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) in 2009 with Screening for Distress as a proposed IPOS strategy in 2010. The need for skilled psychological care is well-recognized as a necessary, integral part of oncology care. There has been significant development of this field over the last two decades in the area now commonly labelled “psycho-oncology”. Given the advances in psycho-oncology, it is helpful to overview the approaches to provision of psychological care, so we can better understand how to care for the emotional needs of cancer patients, their partners and families. The focus here is on patients with high and enduring levels of need in terms of emotional functioning and the formal therapies that are available to help patients and their families manage these needs