Background: Research indicates that psycho-educational based support helps cancer patients and people supporting someone with cancer (supporters) adjust to and cope with cancer. Psycho-Education based interventions provide information allowing patients and supporters to learn ways to effectively manage and cope during cancer. The Cancer Society Auckland Provides Psycho-education sessions (“Tips and Tools”) which are currently delivered by psychologists. The sessions are one hour in duration and are free to attend. There are four sessions on communication, sleep, emotional distress management and stress management.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the utility and also understand the demographics of people attending the psycho-education sessions.

Methods: A total of 64 participants completed evaluation forms following attending a session over a 16 week period asking them to rate the overall session, the relevancy of the session, and likelihood of using the information presented on a scale from 1-5. It also included qualitative questions looking at what was helpful, unhelpful, could be improved, and how they heard about the sessions. Demographic information was also collected.

Results: A mean of four people attended each session (range 0-11).Females represented 75% of the sample population with 53.4% and 46.6% of the sample being cancer patients and were cancer supporters respectively. Mean results show participants rated all four psycho- education sessions (communication, sleep, emotional distress management and stress management) above four out of five for overall usefulness, relevance of the session and likelihood to use the information. Attendees reported wanting more time spent on relaxation exercises and increased group interaction.

Conclusion: This study indicates that psycho-education based support is a helpful tool for both cancer patients and cancer supporters and that it should be regarded as a valuable intervention in psycho-oncology settings.