
"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”
This study tried to find out more about why people use cancer helplines and what they think of them.
Many people use helplines, but there has not been very much research looking at how and why people use them, or how well they work. Researchers would like to understand more about the role of cancer helplines and what makes them work well.
In this study, the researchers asked people who have used a specialist cancer helpline to take part in a telephone interview. The researchers spoke to patients, carers, relatives and friends of people with cancer.
The study team found that people think cancer helplines are important in cancer care. The helplines provide an important service for people affected by cancer to talk about their personal cancer worries.
In this small study, researchers interviewed 22 people who had cancer and 9 who were carers or family members.
The main findings were that helplines offer people
The researchers say that the last point is important because it shows how information seeking is closely linked with needing reassurance and feeling a connection with someone.
Other findings were that
The researchers also interviewed the people answering the helplines. The researchers called them call handlers. The main findings were that
The researchers concluded that people use cancer helplines to get more information. And this is closely linked with their mental, emotional and social (psychosocial) support needs. The researchers say that an aim of training and development of helpline call handlers should be looking at how they can effectively deal with a caller’s emotional needs even when they are only asking for information.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Geraldine Leydon
Dimbleby Cancer Care Research Fund
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
University of Southampton
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"I was delighted to take part in a clinical trial as it has the potential to really help others in the future.”