Cancer Patients' Use of Social Work Services in Canada: Prevalence, Profile, And Predictors of Use (Report‪)‬

An estimated 145,500 Canadians were diagnosed with cancer in 2004 (Canadian Cancer Society, 2004). Being diagnosed with a severe illness such as cancer affects every aspect of a person's life, including relationships with family members, friends, coworkers, and the community at large. Receiving medical care is often intimidating and stress provoking to the whole family even though medical advances continue to reduce cancer mortality and prolong the lives of many cancer patients. Surviving cancer, thus, has brought with it mixed blessings. Nowadays the diagnosis of cancer signals, in many cases, years of living with a chronic, life-threatening illness, and sometimes a disability, requiring constant or intermittent treatment, with the possibility of recurrence hanging over the patients' head (Cwikel & Behar, 1999a). ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN CANCER CARE