Support during cancer treatment

The psychologists working in the Psychosocial Support Unit primarily provide discussion support, the aim of which is to alleviate the psychological crisis and stress caused by cancer. We offer discussion support that is short-term in nature. There are approximately 1–5 appointments per patient. We usually schedule the visits approximately every 3–6 weeks.

You can come to the appointments either alone or with a loved one. If necessary, we can also arrange a personal visit for discussion for your loved one. For visits to the Psychosocial Support Unit, you need a referral from the physician treating your cancer. You can ask for a referral from the physician yourself. Together with you, the physician will assess the need for support from the unit.   

Cancer changes a person’s everyday life, including their coping at home, working capacity, finances, caring for children or other family members, as well as personal relationships. It is possible for you and your loved ones to talk to our social worker. You and your family members can discuss your situation with a Comprehensive Cancer Center social worker who will be able to offer personalized advice and guidance on many of the problems and questions arising from your new life situation. A social worker will also provide guidance on benefits available for cancer patients.    

You can get the social worker’s contact information from the nursing staff. You can also ask for a social worker to contact you.   

Social work services at the Comprehensive Cancer Center   

• We provide information on social security benefits and services and, if necessary, also assist in submitting the required applications.   
• Together with patients, relatives and staff, we participate in the planning of the patient’s discharge from hospital and in organizing their further treatment.   
• We will help you in determining your working capacity and rehabilitation opportunities and participate in making rehabilitation plans together with other professional groups.   
• We cooperate with the authorities and other partners.   
• We provide assistance and discussion support for you and your loved ones.   
• We provide information on the activities of patient organizations.   
• We provide information on matters related to your rights as a patient. 

Here you can find more information on the matters with which a social worker can help you when you have been diagnosed with cancer.

The physiotherapists at the Comprehensive Cancer Center serve patients on both the inpatient wards and in the outpatient clinics. The purpose is to improve your functional capacity through counseling, guidance, therapeutic exercises, and manual therapy.  Based on the physiotherapeutic examination and evaluation, we will draw up an individual plan for you to carry out independent exercises, which will help you in recovering from surgery and the cancer treatments.

In addition, we will evaluate the assistive devices you need, such as compression products, mobility aids, and other aids that will support your daily activities. We will also guide you in acquiring and using the assistive devices.

Sufficient and diverse nutrition is important both during and after your cancer treatment period. Cancer treatments can cause a wide range of symptoms that may affect how you eat and whether you can keep food down. Loss of appetite and nausea after, for example, radiation therapy or chemotherapy, and periodic changes in your sense of taste are fairly common symptoms reported by cancer patients.

In some cases, eating may be impossible, for example, as a result of surgery. In this case, nutrition intake is ensured through tube feeding or intravenous nutrition. If necessary, you can get help in matters related to nutrition from a clinical dietitian, who you can see with a physician’s referral.   

Patients treated at the Comprehensive Cancer Center have the opportunity to discuss topics related to sexuality at a sex therapist’s appointment. Common topics for discussion include:   

• Sexual libido and lack of desire   
• Changes in the body   
• Pain during intercourse, difficulty in having an orgasm, and other challenges in sexual matters brought on by the illness and treatments
• Personal relationships and the formation of personal relationships
• Dilatation instruction
• Reflection on sexuality, problems and challenges in sexuality   
• Difficulties and challenges brought about by the illness or treatments in the experience of being a woman or a man or in gender diversity. 

The average number of visits per patient is 1–6 and we usually schedule visits approximately every 2–6 weeks. Remote appointments are also possible in sexual counseling. You can see a sex therapist by requesting an appointment through a cancer nurse.  

At the Comprehensive Cancer Center, we offer psychosocial support, counseling and guidance for rehabilitation that takes into account the young age and special needs of cancer patients under the age of 40. The Comprehensive Cancer Center employs an occupational therapist and an expert in psychosocial support who also acts as a service instructor for young adults. Our service instructor will go through your life situation with you, map out your possible support needs and, if necessary, refer you to the services that best suit your needs. The instructor will also provide information about various organizations and peer support.  

 Service counseling is part of the cancer treatment for young adults, and it is also available to the patient’s loved ones. The support of a service instructor is available immediately at the start of treatment and during it. Our service instructor will help you find the necessary support services also at the end of your treatment and during the cancer follow-up and monitoring period. The service is free of charge and does not require a physician’s referral.   

You can contact the service instructor by calling or through the staff at the Comprehensive Cancer Center. You can also request that a service instructor contact you directly.

• Occupational Therapist, service instructor for young adults, Anna-Elina Rahikainen
• More information about support services for young adults can be found on this page.    

If necessary, we will refer elderly people to a geriatrist or geriatric oncologist for chemotherapy evaluation. The geriatrist will provide a variety of instructions on coping at home and administering medication. 

Cancer usually has a profound impact on the everyday life of families with children. Each family reacts differently to a family member’s cancer. In many cases, the care of children and the family’s livelihood need to be reassessed when a family member falls ill with cancer.   

It is a good idea to talk honestly to a child about cancer and the changes it will cause in the family’s life, in ways appropriate for the child’s age and development level. When a parent falls ill, it is important to ensure that the children also receive sufficient support.   

Support for parenting and discussions with children can be provided by the employees at the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Psychosocial Support Unit. If necessary, you can also come to the unit with your entire family.   

What is palliative care? 

Palliative care is treatment to relieve symptoms. Palliative care aims to maintain the best possible quality of life by preventing and relieving the symptoms caused by the disease. Palliative care focuses on alleviating pain and other troubling symptoms. Palliative care also takes into account psychological, social and spiritual matters. A serious illness affects the patient’s loved ones as well. For this reason, palliative care also includes support for loved ones.

Who receives palliative care? 

All patients with a chronic, progressive disease that causes symptoms affecting their quality of life are entitled to palliative care. Palliative care does not rule out other types of treatment. Treatment to relieve symptoms should begin in the early stages of the chronic illness alongside the treatment of the primary disease. 

Services provided by the Palliative Care Center 

HUS Palliative Care Center is located in the Comprehensive Cancer Center. The Palliative Care Center also treats patients who do not have cancer. The Palliative Care Center has an outpatient clinic that accepts patients with a doctor's referral from anywhere in the Uusimaa area. The center's professionals includer physicians, nurses and psychotherapists (in the Psychosocial Support Unit) specialized in palliative care. A physiotherapist, a social worker, a clinical dietitian, and a hospital chaplain are also available when necessary.

Read more about palliative care.

The Palliative Hub of the online Health Village (Terveyskylä online service; content currently not available in English) supports terminally ill people and their loved ones in living with the disease.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center has its own hospital chaplain, who is there for the patients and their families as well as the staff. With a hospital chaplain, you can talk about all the things you have on your mind. Conversations are always strictly confidential and held in a manner that respects the person’s religious beliefs. You can talk to a hospital chaplain regardless of your religious beliefs. If you wish, the hospital chaplain can help you get in touch with your parish or religious community.

You can contact the hospital chaplain through the staff at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and by calling or emailing the chaplain.   

• Ulla Ullgren, Hospital Chaplain

The Cancer Society of Southern Finland offers a wide range of support and advice services to cancer patients and their loved ones.    

The society’s counseling nurse will support you in all stages of your illness.

The counseling nurse can be contacted by calling 050 4088 420 from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. You can also contact her by email: satu.forsstrom@essy.fi   

Face-to-face meetings at the Comprehensive Cancer Center or remotely can be arranged by appointment.   

For example, your situation might be:   

• Your or a loved one’s cancer diagnosis and the life change it has brought about makes you uncertain.   
• You need information about cancer and the treatments it involves.   
• You have challenges in your intimate relationships or other personal relationships that come with the illness.   
• You need support and the means to support your children and adolescents when one of their parents or a sibling has cancer.   
• You need support and ways to change your lifestyle and want to learn how to promote your own coping and wellbeing during and after your illness.   
• You need support for rehabilitation or returning to work.   
• You have lost a loved one and are experiencing grief.   

The counseling nurse is a trained health care professional, and the counseling service is provided free of charge. The counseling nurse is bound by professional secrecy.   

• More information about the services of the Cancer Society of Southern Finland
• Facebook page of the Cancer Society of Southern Finland

OLKA® refers to coordinated organization and volunteering activity at hospitals. Our purpose is to offer patients and their loved ones unhurried encounters and provide support in coming to terms with their disease.

The Peer Hub of the online Health Village (Terveyskylä online service; content currently not available in English) is a service that offers peer support for patients and their family members.

The “All about cancer” website provides information, advice, and peer support related to cancer.

The Cancer Society of Finland supports adult cancer patients and their loved ones at different stages of the disease.

The Syöpäklinikan tukijat (supporters of the cancer clinic) organization supports the Comprehensive Cancer Center’s patients and their loved ones in the demanding everyday life at the hospital by making the hospital environment more comfortable.

The experts by experience at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and the customer panel members collaborate with our staff in the planning, implementation, development, and evaluation of services.

Read more about customer inclusion at HUS