The Partnership of Cancer Care: Application of Cognitive Behavioural Approaches to Patient Care and Staff Support
Sunday, 16 September 2007 - 1:30 - 5:00 pm
presented by Inigo Tolosa ClinPsyD, David Horne PhD, Robin Paijmans, Dr Liz Coombes, Dr Carolyn James and Dr Meera Shah

Target Audience: Cancer professionals interested in developing their psychosocial skills and interventions and their reflective practice

Workshop Objectives:

1. To focus on the needs of both patients and staff.

2. Introduce participants to:

i) cognitive behavioural models and skills that they can use in their daily clinical practice; and
ii) the benefits and challenges of reflective practice.

Workshop Description:

There is a great need for cancer nursing and medical staff to be trained and supported in conducting appropriate assessments of cancer patients' psychological and social needs and delivering effective interventions in addressing such needs, at a range of competency levels (Department of Health, UK, National Institute of Clinical Excellence - Cancer Supportive and Palliative Care Guidance, 2004).

Workshop participants will be introduced to the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy model, which provides a robust and comprehensive framework for assessing patient needs and brings an array of evidence-based interventions at different levels of staff competencies, in line with the UK Department of Health recommendations to meet all cancer patients' psychological and emotional needs in parallel with medical and surgical treatments.

A model and tools from the theoretical framework of Transactional Analysis (TA) will enable the workshop participants to reflect on the relational aspect of all cancer work.

The first section will combine didactic methods and group discussions on the relevance and practical application of cognitive behavioural approaches to clinical assessment and intervention, and of TA tools in troubleshooting difficulties in communication, interaction and building therapeutic relationships. Participants will discuss clinical vignettes and learn to apply both models. They will examine the impact of different beliefs and interpersonal styles on engagement in cancer treatment and its clinical outcome and effectiveness. They will then explore their own clinical experiences from these perspectives.

The second section focuses on how clinicians can use reflective practice to further consider patients' and staff psychosocial needs: research shows how reflective practice leads clinicians to deliver a better service to patients, and to maintain greater job satisfaction and lower burnout. This second part of the workshop looks at key reflective practice tools that allow clinicians to explore and manage the impact of their clinical work on themselves, as well as the impact that their own beliefs and attitudes have on their patients. The issues and clinical cases from the morning session are revisited and examined from this perspective. While most of us use mainly one approach in our clinical work, the reality is that it cannot, and does not fit all of our patients. Learning to know and describe our own style and understanding when it works and when we need to seek alternatives is the first step to managing the consultation in order to meet the patients' needs more fully. The workshop is experiential and requires participants' involvement and collaboration.