{"id":6427,"date":"2023-08-25T11:43:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T09:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/bibliotheek\/psychosocial-care-following-eye-removal-could-be-improved\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T15:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T13:54:31","slug":"psychosocial-care-following-eye-removal-could-be-improved","status":"publish","type":"library_pt","link":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/library\/mental-and-social-challenges\/psychosocial-care-following-eye-removal-could-be-improved\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychosocial care following eye removal could be improved"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2023-08-25T11:43:00+02:00\">25 August 2023<\/time><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the National Contact Day in 2021, healthcare providers from UMC Utrecht discussed how they prepare patients at that hospital for eye removal surgery. Providing thorough information helps reduce patients\u2019 anxiety and enables them to resume their lives more smoothly after the surgery. The OOG in OOG Association received indications that not every hospital has organized this psychosocial care as effectively as UMC Utrecht. That is why we recently distributed a questionnaire to our members to learn about their experiences in this regard.     <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Many completed questionnaires<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A total of 110 members participated in the survey. About one-third had not had an eye removed. For eight people, the eye removal had taken place too long ago (2012 or earlier). Ultimately, we were able to use the completed questionnaires from 71 people. The average age of these 71 people was 58 years, but their ages varied widely. A very large proportion of these 71 people were 50 years of age or older.According to the survey responses, most eye removals were performed at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). This hospital treats many people with ocular melanoma (a form of eye cancer). The Rotterdam Eye Hospital ranked second, followed by the other academic hospitals. Five eye removals took place in regular (general) hospitals. Three-quarters of the respondents still remembered which ophthalmologist had performed the eye removal.           <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Not much care, but good care<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than half of the people had not received any emotional or social support before or after their eye removal surgery. If attention WAS paid to emotions and the impact on work, family, and life, the question was what form that support took. Many different things were mentioned here, such as: &#8211; I was given the email address of someone going through the same experience;    <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I got a room to myself;  <\/li>\n<li>I had a consultation beforehand with a nurse or an ophthalmologist, and at UMC Utrecht with nurse practitioner Jeannette van Weerden.  <\/li>\n<li>Generally, there was more attention paid before the surgery than after. Many people are somewhat or very satisfied; the care provided was limited, but it was good. Sometimes a social worker or psychologist was called in when eye cancer was involved. Much of the care consisted of providing brochures to read at home. These focused primarily on the medical aspects of eye removal.      <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Patients Were Missing<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If NO attention were paid to emotions and the impact on work, family, and life, the OOG in OOG Association wanted to know what people missed most. Many different things were mentioned here:   <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>no medical follow-up care (removing bandages, wound care, etc.);  <\/li>\n<li>almost everything;  <\/li>\n<li>All they said was that having only one eye would get you bullied a lot at school;<\/li>\n<li>a conversation with someone about all the implications for hobbies, work, and life;<\/li>\n<li>information about the prosthesis;  <\/li>\n<li>guidance; forgetting to schedule pre- and post-care;  <\/li>\n<li>no time or space for questions;  <\/li>\n<li>no consideration of social consequences;  <\/li>\n<li>have to figure everything out on your own.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Significant differences between hospitals<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you look at the care provided by each hospital, the following three things stand out. None of the five general hospitals provided psychosocial care. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UMC Utrecht and UMC Groningen appear to score the highest in terms of their psychosocial pre- and post-treatment care, although the sample sizes are too small to be certain. According to this survey, the academic hospitals and the Rotterdam Eye Hospital could improve their non-medical care.   <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Out-of-Hospital Care<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The questionnaires show that hospitals often refer patients to other healthcare providers for follow-up care. They found these providers among their family doctors, practice assistants, or psychologists. In addition, participants found significant support from family and friends, Bartim\u00e9us, the Helen Dowling Institute (cancer support), mental health services (GGZ), a children\u2019s coach, Visio, home care, the company physician, and contact with peers, often through the OOG in OOG Association.    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What type of eye removal was performed?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most survey participants underwent an enucleation, in which the entire eye (including the sclera) is removed. In nearly one-third of the cases, the procedure was an evisceration, in which only the contents of the eye are removed. Seven people underwent an exenteration, in which the entire eye, as well as the contents of the eye socket (eye muscles and orbital fat), are removed. In some cases, it was also necessary to remove the eyelids. In cases of enucleation and exenteration, eye cancer was often found.    <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What happens next?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The OOG in OOG Association will share the results of the survey with various organizations involved. Together, we will develop a plan to raise the standard of psychosocial care nationwide. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Psychosociale-ondersteuning-voor-en-na-een-oogverwijdering.docx-2.pdf\" data-type=\"attachment\" data-id=\"2008\">Read the full report here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The removal of an eye is a life-changing event for people. It is therefore important to pay sufficient attention to the social and psychological consequences of such a procedure.   <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6428,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_daextauttol_enable_tooltips":""},"library_cat":[119],"class_list":["post-6427","library_pt","type-library_pt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library_cat-mental-and-social-challenges"],"acf":[],"permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt\/6427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library_pt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_cat?post=6427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}