Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, 2025, Vol.13, No.3, 145-153 http://medscipublisher.com/index.php/cge 146 2 The Current Situation and Challenges of Post-Discharge care 2.1 After being discharged from the hospital, patients often lack sufficient self-management ability Many cancer patients have great difficulties in taking care of themselves and dealing with their physical discomfort after leaving the hospital. Studies have shown that a considerable number of patients have indicated that their needs in areas such as psychological comfort and access to medical information have not been met, and these needs are closely related to their self-care ability after discharge. Younger patients with higher education, or those prone to anxiety and depression, find it more difficult to meet these needs. This indicates that taking care of oneself is a complex matter that is influenced by various factors such as personal circumstances and medical conditions (Nguyen, 2022). If patients are not well-prepared before being discharged from the hospital, they will find it more difficult to deal with various problems after returning home and are more likely to be hospitalized suddenly again. The key factors influencing whether a patient is ready to be discharged from the hospital include: whether the guidance provided by medical staff before discharge is good, whether the patient can take care of himself, and whether the family members who mainly care for him are involved. This means that if patients are not well-prepared and receive sufficient assistance, it is very difficult for them to take good care of themselves at home (Yu et al., 2024). 2.2 Limited medical resources lead to a gap in continuous care Due to the limited medical resources, the care for cancer patients after discharge often shows incoherence and inadequate follow-up. For instance, when many patients are hospitalized again, the hospital they go to is different from the one where the surgery was performed originally. This not only increases the risk of death but also makes repeated hospitalizations more likely, fully exposing the hazards of incoherent and uncoordinated nursing (Hong et al., 2016). In addition, although methods such as video communication with nurses after discharge and receiving tumor care at home are feasible and recognized by patients, they are difficult to be widely implemented due to insufficient resources and the lack of unified arrangements (Lage et al., 2021; Lage et al., 2022; El-Jawahri et al., 2024). These problems all indicate that during the crucial period when patients return home from the hospital, it is extremely difficult to provide each patient with stable and high-quality nursing services. 2.3 The family support system has not been effectively incorporated into the care approach Although everyone knows that family members' participation in care is very important, in the current care process, family support has not been well integrated into the post-discharge care of patients. For instance, elderly caregivers may encounter difficulties in psychological and social aspects, and they also have trouble communicating with patients and arranging care work. This reflects that they are not well-prepared and do not receive sufficient assistance (Hendrix et al., 2018). Moreover, research shows that involving family members actively in care and teaching patients and their families good care knowledge before discharge can help patients recover better. However, in practical operation, these good methods have not been widely adopted (Huang et al., 2024; Yu et al., 2024). Because family support was not systematically integrated into the nursing work, the opportunity to help patients learn to take care of themselves, reduce readmission, and improve the overall quality of nursing was missed. 3 The Theoretical Basis of Family Care 3.1 Family systems theory: the impact of member interaction on health outcomes The family systems theory points out that a family is like a closely connected whole. The health condition and behavior of any member in the family will affect the entire family. In terms of cancer care, this theory emphasizes how the family divides and cooperates and how members communicate with each other, all of which will directly affect the treatment outcome and care experience of patients (Wilson, 2023). Studies have found that each family participates in patient care plans and makes decisions in different ways, which is related to the relationships among family members and the roles they undertake respectively. These interactions may make care smoother or bring obstacles (Figure 1) (Ellis-Smith et al., 2023).
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