Background: The relationship between informational support and use of health care services among individuals newly diagnosed with cancer remains little documented despite its importance for optimal care delivery. Aim: To document the role of informational support in light of patterns of health services used by women and men newly diagnosed with cancer. Method: A sequential mixed methods approach (i.e., quantitative-qualitative) was conducted among women and men newly diagnosed with either breast or prostate cancer. First, an existing quantitative database was used to determine whether an intervention relying on multimedia tool as a complement to the provision of usual cancer informational support to patients (N = 250) would modify subsequent health care service use. A follow-up qualitative inquiry with distinct individuals also newly diagnosed (N = 20) was conducted to explore this relationship further. Next, the resulting quantitative and qualitative findings were merged and reanalyzed using a quantitative-hierarchical approach to enhance our understanding of the phenomenon. Findings: Several personal and contextual factors were found to qualify the relationship between cancer informational support and health service use. Although quantitative analyses showed no significant differences in terms of overall reliance on health care services among participants who received more intense cancer informational support as opposed to those who received care as usual, several sex differences were noted in terms of number of visits to health care professionals, time spent with nurses and satisfaction with cancer information received. Qualitative findings revealed that participants reported a variety of experiences pertaining to cancer information received (e.g., positive, unsupportive or mixed) as well as several processes at play (e.g., cancer information seen as enabling, confirming, or conflicting). These differences in informational support, in turn, influenced their subsequent service utilization (e.g., more phone calls made to health professionals, reduction in face-to-face visits, reluctance to use cancer-related services). The mixed data analysis clarified further the findings allowing a broader perspective to emerge. Conclusion: Findings underscore that the relationship between cancer information and use of services is not as straightforward as initially anticipated. These findings provide initial insights that may inform future research on the topic and assist health care providers in optimizing their cancer informational interventions to guide patients in their reliance on health care services.

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