Resilience and Counseling Received by Colorectal Cancer Patients During a 1-Year Follow-Up

Longitudinal studies on the resilience of colorectal cancer patients and the counseling they receive are rare. This study's purpose was threefold: to describe the resilience and received counseling of colorectal cancer patients after 1 year post surgery; the relationships between background characteristics, resilience, and counseling; and the changes that occurred in the findings. Data were collected in Finland in 2020-2023 after 1 month (phase I) and a year (phase II) of the colorectal cancer surgery using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale © and the Counseling Quality Instrument © . A total of 103 participants completed phase I, 51 participants completed phase II, and 41 participants completed both phases. Phase II of the study showed that among the respondents (n = 51), resilience was low (mean 73.3) and significantly related to marital status ( p = .007). Most (75%) evaluated counseling as good, and the evaluations were similar in both study phases (n = 103, n = 51). The lowest scores were for psychosocial support, patient-centeredness, and goal-directedness. Knowledge of the illness and its care, general health and patient attitudes, and disease treatment and self-care decreased significantly within the year (n = 41). Changes in resilience were not found (n = 41). The findings suggest that colorectal cancer patients might need more psychosocial support. Patients' care should be carefully planned to better address their needs.