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 | Biography |  |
My research interests are in the emotional impact of cancer, particularly advanced cancer and the impact of this on families. In addition, I have an interest in strategies to promote wellness in patients who have been treated for cancer. The field of Psycho-Oncology involves attention to the psychological, emotional and social needs of people with cancer and their family or carers. It encompasses the person’s spiritual and cultural concerns, across all phases of the cancer journey from diagnosis, through treatment, survivorship or advanced disease and death. My research in Psycho-Oncology relates to three core themes:
1. Promotion of psychosocial adjustment in patients with cancer:
Studies which have examined the benefits and limitations of exercise in promoting adjustment in cancer patients including pilot study of an exercise intervention for women after completion of chemotherapy for breast cancer and more recently a randomised controlled trial of exercise in women with Lymphoedema secondary to treatment for breast cancer (Hayes et al).
Promotion of psychosocial adjustment in the cancer population within the community is the subject of a currently funded study (Chambers et al).
Investigator on a study to design and evaluate a couples-based psychosocial intervention with cancer patients and their partners (Girgis et al)
2. The emotional dimensions of advanced cancer for patients and dependent children:
Initial research explored the emotional impact of the diagnosis of advanced breast cancer, identifying key areas of unmet need especially relating to concerns of parents and their response to their children. This provided the impetus for the development of a pilot study in which an educational intervention was developed to enhance the capacity of oncology nurses to provide supportive care for parents with advanced cancer. This was an innovative study which aimed to demonstrate the potential for appropriately-trained novel service providers to provide timely and equitable access to psychosocial care across diverse treatment settings.
Collaborations in the area of advanced cancer have included a multi-centre randomised trial of an antidepressant for patients with advanced cancer (Stockler et al) and a study exploring the acceptability and effectiveness of a structured supervision experience for General Practitioners caring for terminally ill patients (Varghese et al).
3. Professional education and promotion of evidence-based practice:
A major theme has been scholarship in research and collation of evidence into Clinical Practice Guidelines and implementation of these to guide health professionals in provision of optimal clinical care.
Chairing working groups developing NHMRC-endorsed Clinical Practice Guidelines: Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Psychosocial Care of Adults with Cancer; Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Care of Younger Women with Breast Cancer, and Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Psychosocial Care of Women with Breast Cancer. I have been an active member of working groups which developed other NHMRC-endorsed guidelines: Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Women with Early Breast Cancer, Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Women with Advanced Breast Cancer, and consumer versions of these.
Through my role in implementation of these Guidelines nationally I have promoted the translation of evidence into clinical practice.
A multi-site randomised controlled trial for which funding was obtained from beyondblue. The study aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions delivered by novel service providers who have undergone focused training and receive ongoing supervision. This study draws on the pilot data from the educational intervention with oncology nurses, previous experience of developing and delivering health professional education, and the model of supervision in the General Practice study (Varghese et al)
The protocol for this study has been published in BMC Cancer. By May 2011 this article had been accessed 1312 times, regarded by BMC as “High Access”
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