Cell therapies can negatively impact the mental health of patients, families and donors
Cell therapies can significantly impact mental health, with patients often struggling with anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Families and carers are also affected and can experience stress, fatigue, and financial strain.
Despite this, psychological support across the UK is inconsistent and often inadequate. Major gaps include care for patients with non-cancer diagnoses, long-term psychological follow-up, and support for family members and sibling donors.
This report urges policymakers to take action to address the unmet psychological needs of stem cell transplant and CAR-T patients. Psychological support isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s essential for improving overall quality of life.
Families need ongoing support, not just during the hospital stay but long after treatment ends. It’s a very lonely experience.
Kathi Leon, mother of a young stem cell transplant recipient
Recommendations for transforming psychological support
Anthony Nolan has worked with patients, families and clinicians to develop recommendations that will help to improve the psychological care and support that stem cell transplant and CAR-T patients receive.
- Embed specialist clinical psychologists in all transplant centres:
Ensure every transplant centre has a dedicated clinical psychologist to provide ongoing, specialist psychological care, including psychological assessments, tailored interventions, and collaboration with the multidisciplinary team (MDT). - Empower all patient-facing staff in stem cell transplant to support mental health:
Provide the whole MDT with training and support to identify psychological distress, incorporate psychological care into treatment plans, and ensure coordination with primary care, referring hospitals, and community mental health services. - Expand availability of peer support:
Establish formal peer support programmes that can be accessed nationally. - Expand the psychosocial support available to families, including siblings and sibling donors:
Ensure all transplant services have clear pathways to proactively offer and support parents, siblings and carers with psychological support, including around end of life and bereavement.
What’s clear is that embedding a psychologist in the care team allows us to be proactive rather than reactive.
Dr Kofi Anie, Consultant Psychologist
Get involved
Help us spread the word about our report by writing to your local MP today! MPs need to know that constituents feel strongly on this issue and that their involvement will have public support.
Choose an area of the report that resonates with you and write to your MP using our downloadable template. Just copy and paste the content into an email, add your MP’s name, your name and postcode, and send it off.
You can find your MP’s email address here. Please cc public.affairs@anthonynolan.org so that we know which MPs have been contacted.