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skos:definition |
NCI: Supportive care is that which helps the patient and their family to cope with cancer and treatment of it from pre-diagnosis, through the process of diagnosis and treatment, to cure, continuing illness or death and into bereavement. It helps the patient to maximize the benefits of treatment and to live as well as possible with the effects of the disease. Supportive therapy may provide a patient with friendship, encouragement, practical advice such as access to community resources or how to develop a more active social life, vocational counseling, suggestions for minimizing friction with family members, and, above all, hope that the life of the patient may be improved. In all situations, supportive therapy involves the teaching of such life skills as managing medication, learning to socialize, handling finances, and getting a job.
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