News
News Archive
Standards of Care News
Posted 7 January 2013
Vernice Doris Ferguson, RN, MA, FAAN, FRCN, 84, died on Saturday, Dec. 8, at
her home in Washington, DC. Ferguson was extensively involved in the International
Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC) with which IPOS has been proud to
affiliate over the years. She was nationally and internationally known for
her leadership role in fostering excellence in nursing care and the nursing
profession. We offer our condolences to family, friends and colleagues. Read
the obituary for Vernice Ferguson.
Posted 26 December 2012
IPOS would like to recognize sadness at the passing of those we knew over the last year who are no longer with us and recognize their contributions to the field.
Posted 5 December 2012
The European Collaborative Group on Cancer Survivorship (ECGCS), a newly formed collaborative survivorship research group that was established to increase awareness and research around the issues of cancer survivors, has launched a new website.The site features ECGCS Working Groups. Working Groups have been set up to cover the different areas of research – please see http://www.ecgcs.eu/ecgcs-working-groups for more information on the different groups. Upon registration via the main website to the Restricted Access area, researchers can apply to participate in the Forum discussions for the groups that interest them. ECGCS hopes that these Forums will give researchers from all over Europe and beyond the possibility to “meet” fellow researchers with similar professional interests and discuss relevant issues, problems, studies, possible collaborations etc.
Download the forum instructions for details.
Posted 20 November 2012
IPOS Federation Chair, Luigi Grassi, and IPOS Past President, Maggie
Watson, have published an editorial in the journal Psycho-Oncology entitled,
“Psychosocial
care in cancer: an overview of psychosocial programmes and national cancer
plans of countries within the International Federation of Psycho-Oncology
Societies.”
Posted 24 October 2012
The Third Meeting of East-Asia of Psycho-oncology Network (EAPON) was held on September 6th-7th, 2012, in Beijing, China, hosted by Department of Psycho-oncology of Beijing Cancer Hospital, Peking University. The theme of the congress was Hang Together for Better Care of Cancer Patients. Dr. Barry Bultz, IPOS Vice-President and Dr. Luigi Grassi, IPOS Federation Chair and Dr. Wendy Lam from Hong Kong University were invited as plenary speakers. There were more than 70 national and international delegates attending the meeting, with 24 oral presentations and 11 posters. Attendees represented the full spectrum of care providers including, medical oncologists, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers and NGOs. Representatives from Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China attended. Their stimulating participation prompted valuable insights and feedbacks about regional issues facing the field and promoted valuable exchanges and sharing of both research and clinical psycho-oncology. Dr. Lili Tang, conference chair, Director of Department of Psycho-oncology, Beijing Cancer Hospital and her team did a wonderful job of organizing the meeting and gracious hospitality and the event was a terrific success. The meeting attracted high profile publicity with 15 Chinese media organizations covering the event, including Xinhua news agency China Daily and Reference News resulting in excellent coverage regarding the importance of psycho-oncology in cancer care.
In the short span of four years, from the 1st meeting in Tokyo in 2008, EAPON has grown rapidly, both in terms of the science presented and organizationally, reflecting the strong commitment of the clinicians, scientists and trainees involved to collaborating in building robust regional and international psycho-oncology services underpinned by locally-relevant evidence from South East Asia regarding psychosocial aspects of cancer. We hope that EAPON will serve as an inspiration for other regional developments in psycho-oncology, eventually becoming regional nodes within IPOS.
Posted 11 October 2012
This slide was shown at the United Nations during a recent International Atomic Energy Agency meeting. (Thanks to Doug Pyle at ASCO for alerting us!)
Posted 8 October 2012
IPOS has joined forces with the European Society of Gynaecological Oncology (ESGO) to help develop and share the current IPOS Core Curriculum with ESGO members. IPOS is in the process of updating our current 10 lectures with updated references and will make them available to ESGO members online. ESGO, together with IPOS, also plans to develop a featured curriculum for gynaecological oncologists. The program will continue to be rolled out in the coming months.
Posted 28 August 2012
IPOS Board Members, Barry Bultz and Jeff Dunn, and IPOS Member, Megan Dwyer, meet up at the IPOS booth at the World Cancer Congress in Montreal this week.
Posted 24 August 2012
IPOS will be participating in the UICC World Cancer Congress in Montreal 27 - 30 August 2012. Stop by our booth (#11) in the Global Village. Dr. Barry Bultz, IPOS Vice-President, will represent IPOS at the World Cancer Leaders Summit on Monday, 27 August 2012. IPOS has two symposia as well - both on Wednesday, 29 August 2012 - 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM: Declare you Care!! The IPOS Quality Standard, Screening for Distress, the 6th Vital Sign and the Science of Caring. Global Partnerships to improve the quality of life for people living with cancer! and 1:30 - 2:30 PM: Novel psychosocial interventions for palliative care patient. The full program is available here.
Posted 7 August 2012
The Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) Scale © and Manual are now available via the IPOS Store. The Scale is available for free in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese and Spanish. The MAC Manual can be purchased for $70 USD; it is available in English only. You must have an IPOS account to place an order. Click here to order.
The MAC Scale © is a leading measure of coping developed specifically for assessment of people with cancer. This widely used questionnaire-based test covers important dimensions of coping based on the work of Watson and Greer. The MAC and Mini-MAC are reliable and have been validated in many studies. Information is provided on scoring and interpretation. Available in many languages, it is a brief test easily understood and completed by cancer patients that captures the most important aspects of coping with the cancer experience.
Posted 2 August 2012
IPOS Board Member Luzia Travado, D Clin Psych will represent IPOS at the upcoming European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Congress at the European Parliament in Brussels this October. Dr. Travado will present “Psychosocial Care: IPOS New Standard in Quality Cancer Care.” Click here for more information on the meeting.
Posted 19 June 2012
David Kissane, MD, takes up new appointment in Melbourne, retaining adjunct appointment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Ccenter as Consultant. The new appointment, effective 1 July 2012, is: Professor and Head of Discipline, Psychiatry;
School of Psychology and Psychiatry;
Faculty of Medicine;
Monash University;
Melbourne, Australia.
Returning to Australia to be close to family, Dr. Kissane will continue full involvement with research at MSKCC.
Dr. Kissane commented that he had been “privileged to lead the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center across this past decade and see significant growth in faculty appointments, research and clinical care.” He continued, “Outstanding programs of Communication Skills Training research, Psychotherapy trials, Neurocognitive studies, Cancer Prevention and Risk Reduction studies, and Cancer Disparities research exist and will continue. I look forward to a strong continuing relationship with an institution and department that I have come to love. I will remain deeply grateful to all the staff and faculty who have made these nine years so meaningful and fulfilling.”
Dr. Kissane has been honored by MSKCC as the first incumbent of the Jimmie
C. Holland Chair of Psycho-Oncology. He was awarded the Arthur Sutherland Award
for Lifetime Achievement by the International Psycho-oncology society in 2008,
and is a former President of IPOS and Congress Chair for its meeting in the
year 2000. William Breitbart, MD, will become Interim Chair of the Psycho-Oncology
Department until an international search is completed for Dr Kissane’s replacement.
Posted 2 May 2012
IPOS endorses proposed revisions to the
ASCO/ONS Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards to include oral chemotherapy. Click here to view the letter from the Alliance for Quality Psychosocial Cancer Care commenting on some of these changes (ASCO's proposed changes are indicated in red).
Posted 27 March 2012
IPOS proud to announce that the organization is sponsoring two symposia at the UICC World Cancer Congress, 27 - 30 August 2012, in Montreal, Canada. The first is Declare you Care!! The IPOS Quality Standard, Screening for Distress, the 6th Vital Sign and the Science of Caring. Global Partnerships to improve the quality of life for people living with cancer! and will be held jointly with UICC. The second, Novel Psychosocial Interventions for Palliative Care Patient, will feature presentations by Dr. Harvey Chochinov (on Dignity Therapy) and Dr. William Breitbart (on Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy). Visit the World Cancer Congress website for more information on this very important conference.
Posted 7 December 2011
Dr. Luigi Grassi will represent IPOS at the European Partnership for Action Against Cancer meeting on symptom assessment, classification and management within palliative care, 26 - 27 January 2012, in Milan, Italy.
Posted 16 November 2011
Deadline for Spring 2012 selection for the UICC Yamagiwa-Yoshida Memorial International Cancer Study Grants is 15 January 2012
UICC Yamagiwa-Yoshida Memorial International Cancer Study Grants (YY) are generously funded by the Japan National Committee for UICC and Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd., Japan. Click here for more information.
Posted 15 November 2011
IPOS at World Cancer Leaders' Summit in Dublin, Ireland Friday, 18 November 2011
First organized in 2006 and now held annually, the Summit is a high-level meeting attended by leading decision makers which aims to influence international health policy and secure a strategic response to the global cancer epidemic. Approximately 200 high-level participants are expected to attend, including Heads of State, Ministers of Health, UN officials, international cancer leaders and private sector partners. Maggie Watson PhD will be representing IPOS as its President.
Click here to see the event website.
Click here to see the slides promoting the Standards and Clinical Practice Guidelines in Cancer Care.
Posted 3 November 2011
1st Francophone Palliative Care Initiators’ Course for Africa
This 5-week course will be held 2 April - 4 May 2012 at CBC Health Services
Complex in
Mutengene, Cameroon. The course is designed to help
health professionals initiate
culturally appropriate Palliative
Care Services in Francophone Africa. Read more...
Posted 25 October 2011
IPOS at EiO
2012
Professor and Past IPOS President, Bill Breitbart, will represent IPOS as a speaker at the Excellence in Oncology conference to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in February 2012. More information about the conference is available at www.excellence-in-oncology.org.
Posted 24 October 2011
IPOS Member Featured in ASCO Magazine
IPOS Member, Antonella Surbone, was recently featured in the ASCO Connection article, "Psycho-oncology: A Mental Health Priority for Patients, Families," in which Dr. Surbone emphasizes the impact cancer makes upon the entire family of a cancer patient.
Posted 24 October 2011
IPOS congratulates its 2011 Award recipients!
See the Awards Information page for more information.
Posted 22 September 2011
CoC Release New Cancer Program Standards 2012
The Commission on Cancer announced the formal release of the Cancer Program Standards 2012: Ensuring Patient-Centered Care.
These standards, scheduled for implementation in 2012, ensure that key elements of quality cancer care are provided to every person with cancer treated in a CoC-accredited facility throughout their diagnosis and treatment process, including psychosocial support, care for cancer-related pain, palliative care, and hospice care. These standards also challenge cancer programs to enhance the care they provide by addressing patient-centered needs and measuring the quality of the care they deliver against national standards. Both areas are critical components of quality cancer care. Information about the standards, including soon-to-be-released resources to support them, can be found on the CoC Web site at: http://www.facs.org/cancer/coc/cps2011.html
Posted 25 August 2011
ASCO Post Announcement
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) placed a notice in the 1 September 2011 issue of The ASCO Post about the special issue of Psycho-Oncology and making Distress the sixth vital sign.
News Archive