Standards of Care News
Endorse the Statement
IPOS is requesting cancer organizations around the world to endorse the IPOS Statement on Standards and Clinical Practice Guidelines in Clinical Care. The IPOS statement provides an opportunity for your organization to endorse guidelines put forward by two of the world’s leading international organizations, the Union for International Cancer Control and the International Psycho-Oncology Society, addressing supportive care issues for cancer patients and their families. This statement has the potential to influence the international standard of care and advance the overall goals of your organization.
Your organization’s endorsement of the Standard will be duly recognized by both IPOS and the UICC, and we welcome your support. If you agree, please send IPOS a letter of endorsement addressed to Maggie Watson, PhD, President of IPOS, on your letterhead, to Alison Holcomb at info@ipos-society.org or 154 Hansen Road, Suite 201, Charlottesville, VA 22911 USA. We will be honored to include your endorsement and logo on this website. Examples of letters can be found below, or you can use the template letter linked here.
International Psycho-Oncology Society’s (IPOS) Statement on Standards and Clinical Practice Guidelines in Cancer Care
July 2010
The International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) proposes endorsement of the following statement on standards and clinical practice guidelines in cancer care:
IPOS International Standard of Quality Cancer Care:
1. Quality cancer care must integrate the psychosocial domain into routine care;
2. Distress should be measured as the 6th Vital Sign after temperature, blood pressure,
pulse, respiratory rate and pain.
The International Psycho-Oncology Society is the multidisciplinary international body responsible for the psychological, social and behavioural issues in cancer care. IPOS has determined that there is sufficient evidence and experience available to propose a new international quality standard, which could have a synergistic effect upon international and national efforts to improve psychosocial cancer care.
UICC
Global Authorities Declare Distress the 6th Vital Sign in Cancer Care
Distress may soon be universally ranked as the 6th vital sign in cancer care, following the Union of International Cancer Control’s (UICC) endorsement of a recommendation that cancer care standards and clinical practice guidelines be revised.
The recommendation was made by the International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS).
President of the UICC, Dr Eduardo Cazap, said the endorsement would improve cancer care guidelines and practice internationally.
“The UICC is in unanimous agreement with IPOS that distress must be a primary concern in the treatment of cancer patients,” he said.
“The high prevalence of distress in cancer patients world-wide has been well documented, with significant impacts on patients’ basic functioning.
“We expect that recognising distress as the 6th vital sign will improve the treatment of cancer patients, improve outcomes for cancer patients, and improve the effectiveness of cancer care systems around the world,” Dr Cazap said.
President of IPOS, Professor Maggie Watson, said UICC endorsement paved the way for World Health Organisation ratification of the recommendation.
“WHO endorsement would be welcomed by cancer patients, survivors, and supporters world-wide.
“Importantly, the UICC’s endorsement provides a mandate for member organisations to call on their home nations to rank distress as the 6th vital sign in cancer care,” she said.
“This will inspire historic reform of standards and guidelines for clinical practice, with positive implications for international cancer control."
“The effect of distress on cancer patients, families and the community has largely been overlooked in models of primary care, despite the serious consequences of distress on patients’ prospects of long-term survival and quality of life,” Prof Watson said.
In routine medical practice vital signs assess basic functioning, and include body temperature, pulse (heart rate), blood pressure, respiratory rate, and pain.
The IPOS recommendation was officially endorsed by the UICC at its board meeting prior to the 2010 World Cancer Congress in China.
SIOP
The IPOS Standards of Care were endorsed at the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology held 21 - 24 October 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Featured from left to right: Martha Grootenhuis; Dr. Gabriella Calaminus, President of SIOP; Jimmie Holland, MD; and Andrea Farkas Patenaude, PhD.