FSOSW Social Worker of the Year and ACS Leadership in Oncology Social Work Award
The ACS Leadership in Oncology Social Work Award was given to our President, Jennifer Maggiore, LCSW, OSW-C, who works for Ackerman Cancer Center
The ACS Leadership in Oncology Social Work Award was given to our President, Jennifer Maggiore, LCSW, OSW-C, who works for Ackerman Cancer Center
Our very own Dr. Christina Austin-Valere was selected as the 2015 Lane Adams Quality of Life Award Winner ! Please join me in congradulating her on this amazing accomplishment! See what her collegues had to say about her:
This is the highest service award given to social workers or other clinicians from around the country. Christina was chosen from among many thousands of dedicated professionals. She will receive the award at the American Cancer Society’s National Leadership meeting in Atlanta, GA on January 15, 2015.
As you know in addition to being our licensed clinical oncology social worker in the Bienes Cancer Center, Dr. Austin-Valere is a preceptor for future social workers, who are studying at Barry University. Christina worked on and help write our first Partners in Breast Health grant and also our colorectal cancer prevention educational grant. She has served as the President of the Florida Society of Oncology Social Workers and the National Association of Social Workers-Florida Chapter, and has served on the Boards of National Association of Social Workers and the Association of Oncology Social Work, as well as the Florida Division Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society among many other services she has and continues to provide!
Please join me in congratulating Christina on this huge national honor and accurate reflection of the wonderful works she does for cancer patients here and throughout our community!!!!
Below is the definition and explanation of the award.
Lane Adams Award
The Mission: The American Cancer Society Lane Adams Quality of Life Award promotes improved quality of life for all persons with cancer and their families through public recognition of exemplary individuals who practice compassionate, skilled cancer care and who extend the warm hand of service. [...]
FSOSW Regional Coordinator Chair Report - October 22 2014
FSOSW Regional Coordinator Chair Business Meeting Report -
October 23 2014 FSOSW ICC Annual Business Report - October 23 2014
FSOSW_ICC_Rept_October 22 20141
FSOSW ICC Annual Business Report - October 23 2014
Copy of MemberList Oct2014
FSOSW Historian Report Oct 22 2014
FSOSW Member Report oct 2014
FSOSW Membership Flow Chart
FSOSW Historian Report Oct 22 2014
Communications Report
CEU Report-October 2014
Welcome to the new membership section of our website. You will find a range of resources including the Member Directory, CEU Information, Oncology Toolkit and more. You can keep up to date with all FSOSW news, announcements and updates.
If you have questions or need assistance Contact Us through our website.
ACCC Standards
The Association of Community Cancer Centers Cancer Program Guidelines have been established to assist cancer programs that want to develop and/or maintain a comprehensive interdisciplinary program that meets the needs of cancer patients and their families.
[Download ACCC Standards]
FSOSW Members, it's time to renew your membership. FSOSW has released the new member website where you will be able to access many benefits with your FSOSW membership.
In order to renew your membership CLICK HERE or go to the Membership page from the menu at the top. Renewing your membership is easy. Select your membership level and click the Payment button. You will be directed to our credit card processing service, PayPal. You don't have to be a PayPal member to pay by credit card. Just select "Don't have a PayPal account" and pay by your choice of card. Once you have completed payment you will be directed back to the FSOSW website to complete your registration.
If you have any questions please don't hesitate to Contact Us.
ACCC Cancer Program Guidelines
The Association of Community Cancer Centers Cancer Program Guidelines have been established to assist cancer programs that want to develop and/or maintain a comprehensive interdisciplinary program that meets the needs of cancer patients and their families.
These guidelines were developed to reflect the optimal components for a cancer program. The guidelines are not intended to act as an accrediting or credentialing mechanism and are not a list of standards, such as those published by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The guidelines should not be a surrogate for independent medical judgment; they serve only as the term implies: as guidelines to help programs meet the optimal attributes.
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Screening for Emotional Distress in Cancer Patients: A systematic Review of Assessment Instruments
Andrea Vodermaier, Wolfgang Linden, Christopher Siu
Screening for emotional distress is becoming increasingly common in cancer care. This systematic review examines the psychometric properties of the existing tools used to screen patients for emotional distress, with the goal of encouraging screening programs to use standardized tools that have strong psychometrics. Systematic searches of MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases for English-language studies in cancer patients were performed using a uniform set of key words (eg, depression , anxiety , screening , validation , and scale ), and the retrieved studies were independently evaluated by two reviewers. Evaluation criteria included the number of validation studies, the number of participants, generalizability, reliability, the quality of the criterion measure, sensitivity, and specificity. The literature search yielded 106 validation studies that described a total of 33 screening measures. Many generic and cancer-specific scales satisfied a fairly high threshold of quality in terms of their psychometric properties and generalizability. Among the ultrashort measures (ie, those containing one to four items), the Combined Depression Questions performed best in patients receiving palliative care. Among the short measures (ie, those containing five to 20 items), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale demonstrated adequate psychometric properties. Among the long measures (ie, those containing 21 – 50 items), the Beck Depression Inventory and the General Health Questionaire – 28 met all evaluation criteria. The PsychoSocial Screen for Cancer, the Questionnaire on Stress in Cancer Patients – Revised, and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist are long measures that can also be recommended for routine screening. In addition, other measures may be considered for specific indications or disease types. [...]
Screening for distress in patients with brain cancer using the NCCN's rapid screening measure
Stephen T. Keir,
Roberta D. Calhoun-Eagan,
Jonas J. Swartz,
Oussama A. Saleh,
Henry S. Friedman
Article first published online: 31 OCT 2007
DOI: 10.1002/pon.1271
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Issue
Psycho-Oncology
Volume 17, Issue 6, pages 621–625, June 2008
Keir, S. T., Calhoun-Eagan, R. D., Swartz, J. J., Saleh, O. A. and Friedman, H. S. (2008), Screening for distress in patients with brain cancer using the NCCN's rapid screening measure. Psycho-Oncology, 17: 621–625. doi: 10.1002/pon.1271
Author InformationThe Tug McGraw Research Center, The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, Durham, NC, USA
Email: Stephen T. Keir (Keir0001@mc.duke.edu)
*Correspondence: Stephen T. Keir, The Tug McGraw Research Center, The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke, 3624 DUMC, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Publication History
Issue published online: 16 JUN 2008
Article first published online: 31 OCT 2007
Manuscript Accepted: 4 AUG 2007
Manuscript Received: 30 JUL 2007
Keywords
brain cancer;
brain tumor;
distress;
stress;
quality of life
Abstract
Goals of work: Patients with brain cancer are at a risk of experiencing elevated levels of distress due to the severe functional, neurocognitive, and neuropsychological sequelae of the disease. Using the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's Distress Thermometer, we evaluated the extent and sources of distress within a population of patients with brain cancer.
Patients and methods: Participants were asked to complete the Distress Thermometer, a single-item rapid screening tool for distress. The Distress Thermometer is a visual analog scale on which participants rate their level of distress from ‘0’ (none) to ‘10’ (extreme). Participants were also asked to designate which items from a 34-item list constitute sources of distress.
Main results: Fifty-two percent of participants met the ⩾4 cut-off score for distress. The scores were positively correlated with patient-reported emotional sources of distress (r=0.444, p<0.001), physical sources of stress [...]
Acceptability of the Distress Thermometer and Problem List to community-based telephone cancer helpline operators, and to cancer patients and carers
Abstract
Background: Cancer can be a distressing experience for cancer patients and carers, impacting on psychological, social, physical and spiritual functioning. However, health professionals often fail to detect distress in their patients due to time constraints and a lack of experience. Also, with the focus on the patient, carer needs are often overlooked. This study investigated the acceptability of brief distress screening with the Distress Thermometer (DT) and Problem List (PL) to operators of a community-based telephone helpline, as well as to cancer patients and carers calling the service.
Methods: Operators (n = 18) monitored usage of the DT and PL with callers (cancer patients/carers, >18 years, and English-speaking) from September-December 2006 (n = 666). The DT is a single item, 11-point scale to rate level of distress. The associated PL identifies the cause of distress.
Results: The DT and PL were used on 90% of eligible callers, most providing valid responses. Benefits included having an objective, structured and consistent means for distress screening and triage to supportive care services. Reported challenges included apparent inappropriateness of the tools due to the nature of the call or level of caller distress, the DT numeric scale, and the level of operator training.
Conclusions: We observed positive outcomes to using the DT and PL, although operators reported some challenges. Overcoming these challenges may improve distress screening particularly by less experienced clinicians, and further development of the PL items and DT scale may assist with administration. The DT and PL allow clinicians to direct/prioritise interventions or referrals, although ongoing training and support is critical in distress screening.
[Download Acceptability of the Distress Thermometer...]