Meaning and Purpose (MaP) therapy in advanced cancer patients: a randomised controlled trial.

Purpose: We aimed to examine the efficacy of Meaning and Purpose (MaP) Therapy in promoting posttraumatic growth and meaningful life attitudes (choices and goal seeking) in people living with advanced cancer.

Methods: Patients with a prognosis ≥ 1 year were stratified across two sites and randomised to receive MaP therapy and regular oncology/palliative care (Intervention) or usual care (Control). They completed measures at baseline (t0), post-intervention (12 weeks, t1) and 12 weeks later (t2).

An Online Survey of Australian Medical Students' Perspectives on Spiritual History Taking and Spiritual Care.

It is reported that little spiritual care communication skills training occurs in Australian medical schools. This survey explored the experience of final year students in this domain in order to inform the construction of a new curriculum. Medical students in their final year at four Australian medical schools were invited to participate in an online survey, which included questions about demographic details, exposure to spiritual history taking, perceived learning needs, and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being 12 item Non-Illness score.

Validation of the Canadian Version of the Shame and Stigma Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients.

Cancers of the head and neck and their treatment can cause disfigurement and loss of functioning, with a profound negative impact on the person's self-image and psychosocial wellbeing. This can lead to experiences of shame and stigma, which are important targets for psychosocial interventions. Accurate measurement and identification of these problems enables clinicians to offer appropriate interventions and monitor patients' progress.

Real World Experience of Change in Psycho-Existential Symptoms in Palliative Care.

Context: Psycho-existential symptoms in palliative care are addressed insufficiently. Routine screening, ongoing monitoring and meaningful treatment of psycho-existential symptoms may contribute to the relief of suffering in palliative care.

Objectives: We sought to explore longitudinal change in psycho-existential symptoms following the routine implementation of the Psycho-existential Symptom Assessment Scale (PeSAS) in Australian palliative care services.

Prevalence and management of chronic nonmalignant pain in palliative care populations: A systematic review.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and current approaches to clinical management of chronic nonmalignant pain in patients referred to palliative care services.

Methods: A systematic review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021205432). Six databases were searched on 25 August 2020 and again on 11 July 2022: PubMed and Ovid MEDLINE, Elsevier Scopus, PsychINFO, the Cochrane Library, and CINAHL.

The flourishing scholarship of psychosocial oncology viewed across 30 years through the lens of this journal, Psycho-Oncology.

Objective: This issue celebrates the 30th anniversary of Psycho-Oncology as a journal, a home for scholarship integrating the psychological, social and behavioural dimensions of cancer. Psycho-oncology developed as an evidence-based discipline to offer an alternative to unproven therapies and to optimise coping and support for patients with cancer and their families.

Methods: A review of key articles was undertaken for this editorial.

Mental state of demoralisation across diverse clinical settings: A systematic review, meta-analysis and proposal for its use as a 'specifier' in mental illness.

Objective: Demoralisation is a state of poor coping characterised by low morale, hopelessness, subjective incompetence, and loss of meaning and purpose in life. While studied extensively in oncology and palliative care, there has been recent exploration in broader medical and mental health settings. The aim was to investigate the prevalence of demoralisation and associated sociodemographic and psychological factors across these clinical settings.

The role of depression and other psychological factors in work ability among breast cancer survivors in Australia.

Objective: Identifying modifiable factors affecting work ability among cancer survivors is important. The primary aim of the present study was to examine the effects of depression and related psychological factors on work ability among breast cancer survivors in Australia.

Methods: In this cross-sectional electronic and postal survey, Australian breast cancer survivors were investigated.

Systematic review of medical education on spirituality.

Background: Spirituality is a fundamental dimension of our human nature that impacts on medical care and yet is relatively neglected by medical education courses in Australia.

Aim: This systematic review was conducted to assess the curriculum content currently used to develop medical student understanding of, and engagement with, spirituality in the context of patient care.

Methods: Studies published in English from 2010 to the review date were included in order to focus on the most recent curricula.

Discordance between the perceptions of clinicians and families about end-of-life trajectories in hospitalized dementia patients.

Background: Due to the unpredictable dementia trajectory, it is challenging to recognize illness progression and the appropriateness of a palliative approach. Further confusion occurs during hospitalization where the presence of comorbid conditions complicates prognostication. This research examined clinicians and families' perceptions of dementia as a terminal condition in relation to end-of-life admissions.

Relationship communication and the course of psychological outcomes among couples coping with localised prostate cancer.

Objective: How couples communicate about cancer is an important predictor of psychological outcomes for men diagnosed with localised prostate cancer and their spouses. We examined the predictive role of disclosure, responsiveness, mutual avoidance, and holding back on depressive symptoms, psychological adjustment, cancer-specific distress, and cancer concerns.

Methods: Eighty-one prostate cancer patients and their spouses completed measures of communication at baseline and measures of four psychological outcomes at baseline, five, 12, and 26 weeks after baseline.

Who cares for the bereaved? A national survey of family caregivers of people with motor neurone disease.

Although Motor Neurone Disease (MND) caregivers are most challenged physically and psychologically, there is a paucity of population-based research to investigate the impact of bereavement, unmet needs, range of supports, and their helpfulness as perceived by bereaved MND caregivers. : An anonymous national population-based cross-sectional postal and online survey of bereavement experiences of family caregivers who lost a relative/friend to MND in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Recruitment was through all MND Associations in Australia.

Grief, depression, and anxiety in bereaved caregivers of people with motor neurone disease: a population-based national study.

Despite the traumatic and fatal nature of motor neurone disease (MND) and the caring experiences being described as unrelenting, little is known about risk of psychiatric morbidity and Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) for family caregivers. A cross-sectional survey of caregivers bereaved in 2016-2018 was distributed by the five MND Associations in Australia (2019). Validated tools for PGD (PG-13), anxiety, depression, and family functioning were included.

Risk indicators for depression in aged care: The contribution of a meaningful life, mastery and environmental fit.

Objectives: Depression is a pernicious, growing problem in the aged care population. Knowledge about the risk factors for depression focuses on unchangeable, medical factors; therefore, a deeper, systematic understanding of modifiable psychological risk indicators is needed.

Methods: This secondary analysis used data from an observational cohort study (T1, n = 147; T2, n = 81) of adults aged ≥65 years recruited from 15 aged care facilities in Melbourne, Australia.

Cancer-related communication during sessions of family therapy at the end of life.

Objectives: A goal of family-focused therapies in oncology is to help families communicate effectively about illness and its management. Yet there has been no examination of whether and how conjoint sessions are conducive to this process. In this study, we (a) described the extent of cancer-specific communication during family sessions at the end of life; (b) identified characteristics associated with SC; and (c) determined the association between SC and longer-term family bereavement outcomes.

Fear of cancer recurrence in lymphoma survivors: A descriptive study.

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a common experience among cancer survivors and often persists after the termination of cancer treatments. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate FCR in survivors of Hodgkin's and diffuse large B-cell lymphomas, given a high rate of survivorship in this patient population. The parent study was a multi-site, cluster-randomized trial to assess a communication skills intervention: survivorship planning consultation (versus a time-attention control - wellness rehabilitation intervention) to promote transition to survivorship.

Longitudinal course and predictors of communication and affect management self-efficacy among women newly diagnosed with gynecological cancers.

Objective: Self-efficacy is an important psychological resource to assist people in managing chronic illness and has been associated with psychological outcomes among patients coping with cancer. Little is known about the course of self-efficacy among gynecological cancer patients coping with cancer and the sociodemographic, medical, and psychological factors that are associated with the course of self-efficacy among these patients.

Methods: One hundred twenty-five women recently diagnosed with gynecological cancer completed a measure of communication and affective management self-efficacy at baseline, 5 weeks, 9 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 18 months post-baseline.