How it works

The Facing the Tiger Psychological Care Approach for prostate cancer can be applied in any prostate cancer treatment setting and consists of:

The patient book focuses on the day-to-day worries and concerns men and their partners experience when dealing with the disease. It makes use of cognitive behaviour therapy approaches, psycho-education and real survivor stories to encourage men and their partners to explore their own emotional and cognitive reactions to the disease and gain a sense of empowerment about their situation. The book is used with urology patients upon diagnosis alongside standard medical information handouts or at any time throughout treatment. Post-diagnosis it supports patients to ease distress about side-effects, facilitate better communication with health care providers and family, and reduce anxiety about the future whether expressed or hidden. The book is recognised as part of best-practice psychosocial care based on Australian guidelines for multidisciplinary treatment of prostate cancer and is endorsed by the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand, the Australia and New Zealand Urological Nurses Society, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA).

The healthcare provider manual is used within multidisciplinary treatment centres that provide medical, nursing and allied support services to prostate cancer patients. Most commonly, the manual is used by prostate cancer care nurses or urology and oncology nurses, but it can also be used by psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, sex therapists, or general practitioners. The manual shows how the healthcare provider can structure tailored men-centred support sessions to match the patient’s needs throughout treatment. It encourages regular use of distress monitoring and survivorship care plans and uses the Facing the Tiger patient book as its accompanying resource. For the minority of patients who exhibit major clinical levels of distress under treatment, the manual explains how to detect this and when to refer them to specialised treatment. (All nurses in the PCFA Prostate Cancer Specialist Nursing Program are provided with a copy of the manual and receive training on its use with patients.)

The result is that the Facing the Tiger psychological care approach can be implemented within a medical setting without the need for extra staff, or a large investment of time and money. Initial improvements in patient outcomes can be achieved quickly with the use of the patient book for a per-patient cost of around AU$20.00. Extending that level of care to patients exhibiting higher levels of distress is achieved by equipping selected staff with the healthcare provider manual at AU$135.00 per professional.

For all enquiries about using Facing the Tiger in a cancer treatment centre or urology practice, please contact Stephen May, stephen@facingthetiger.net