Delineation of core roles of oncology social workers in inpatient settings: a secondary data analysis.

There is limited literature on the roles and tasks conducted by oncology social workers (OSW) who work with cancer patients in inpatient units. The purpose of this study was to delineate the roles reported to be significant to practice among OSWs who practice in inpatient settings and to identify the domains into which these roles fall. The data used in this secondary data analysis were collected in a large national study of OSWs to delineate the roles and tasks across all cancer settings.

Oncology social workers' involvement in palliative care: Secondary data analysis from nationwide oncology social workers survey.

Objectives: Social workers are vital in delivering psychosocial services in palliative care, yet their specific roles in palliative oncology remain undefined. This study aimed to delineate the current practice role of oncology social workers involvement in palliative care in the United States.

Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional design and involved secondary analysis of data from a nationwide survey focused on workforce conditions for oncology social workers.

Building coping skills to relieve distress and physical symptoms: Findings from a quality improvement project of a five-week group psychoeducational program for cancer patients.

To examine the effectiveness of Mind Over Matter (MOM), a group psychosocial intervention based on CBT, ACT, and mind-body interventions, from data collected during a quality improvement project. MOM was offered in person prior to COVID-19 and telehealth after COVID-19 began. Distress, as measured by anxiety, depression, the severity of physical symptoms and the impact of physical symptoms on daily functioning, was measured pre- and post-MOM.

Practical Assessment and Management of Vulnerabilities in Older Patients Receiving Systemic Cancer Therapy: ASCO Guideline Update.

Purpose: To update the ASCO guideline (2018) on the practical assessment and management of age-associated vulnerabilities in older patients undergoing systemic cancer therapy.

Methods: An Expert Panel conducted a systematic review to identify relevant randomized clinical trials (RCTs), systematic reviews, and meta-analyses from January 2016 to December 2022.

Results: A total of 26 publications met eligibility criteria and form the evidentiary basis for the update.

Cardiac Related Psychosocial Distress and Traumatic Distress in Individuals with Advanced Heart Failure.

Guided by the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping, this study explored relationships between cardiac related psychosocial distress, traumatic distress, and the number of lifetime traumas in people with advanced heart failure. Utilizing a cross-sectional survey design, a convenience sample of participants with advanced heart failure who received treatment in Washington, DC, completed standardized measures. Bivariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference in mean number of exposures and distress associated with advanced heart failure therapies and linear relationships between exposures and traumatic distress, distress and traumatic distress, and exposures and distress, as well as between the number of exposures and distress and traumatic distress and between the distress and traumatic distress.

Healthcare providers' experiences of continuing care for older adults with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused great strain on older adults with cancer and their healthcare providers. This study explored healthcare providers' reported changes in cancer care, clinical barriers to care, patient questions, and the overall experiences of caring for older adults with cancer during the COVID-19 crisis.

Methods: The Advocacy Committee of the Cancer and Aging Research Group and the Association of Community Cancer Centers developed a survey for healthcare providers of adults with cancer, inquiring about their experiences during the pandemic.

Healthcare providers' attitudes towards delay in cancer treatment during COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented obstacles leading to delays in treatment for older adults with cancer. Due to limited resources at the height of the pandemic, healthcare providers were constantly faced with ethical dilemmas regarding postponing or rescheduling care for their patients.

Materials And Methods: Two survey-based studies were conducted at different time-points during the pandemic looking at factors affecting oncology care providers' attitudes towards delay in treatment for older adults with cancer.

Differences in urban and suburban/rural settings regarding care provision and barriers of cancer care for older adults during COVID-19.

Purpose: Care for older adults with cancer became more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in urban hotspots. This study examined the potential differences in healthcare providers' provision of as well as barriers to cancer care for older adults with cancer between urban and suburban/rural settings.

Methods: Members of the Advocacy Committee of the Cancer and Aging Research Group, with the Association of Community Cancer Centers, surveyed multidisciplinary healthcare providers responsible for the direct care of patients with cancer.

Through the Lens of Patient Partners: Challenges in Accrual of Older Adults to NCI Clinical Trials.

The workshop "Engaging Older Adults in Cancer Clinical Trials Conducted in the NCI Clinical Trials Network: Challenges and Opportunities" included a Patient Stakeholder Workgroup that explored the needs and concerns of older adults with cancer regarding clinical trials. To accomplish this, the workgroup conducted patient focus groups in which participants were interviewed, recorded conversations were analyzed and coded, and salient themes were identified. The focus groups identified general barriers to accrual such as complex consent forms, general communication, restrictive eligibility, nonreferrals, patient costs, cultural insensitivity, limited accessibility in community settings, and transportation issues.

What does the word healing mean to you? Perceptions of patients with life-limiting illness.

Introduction: There is a growing consensus that patient-centered care is more effective in treating patients than a strictly biomedical model, where there are known challenges to involving the patient in assessments, treatment goals, and determining preferred outcomes.

Objectives: The current study seeks to integrate patient values and perspectives by exploring how people diagnosed with a life-limiting disease define healing in their own words.

Methods: As a part of a larger study that included cognitive interviewing, we asked the question "what does the word healing mean to you?" Data were collected during face-to-face interviews with patients from three metropolitan healthcare facilities.

Survey of cancer care providers' attitude toward care for older adults with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: Care for older adults with cancer became more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to examine cancer care providers' attitudes toward the barriers and facilitators related to the care for these patients during the pandemic.

Materials And Methods: Members of the Advocacy Committee of the Cancer and Aging Research Group, along with the Association of Community Cancer Centers, developed the survey distributed to multidisciplinary healthcare providers responsible for the direct care of patients with cancer.

Experiences of healthcare providers of older adults with cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives: Care for older adults with cancer became more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to examine healthcare providers' clinical barriers, patient questions, and overall experiences related to care delivery for these patients during the pandemic.

Materials And Methods: Members of the Advocacy Committee of the Cancer and Aging Research Group along with the Association of Community Cancer Centers developed a 20-question survey for healthcare providers of older adults with cancer.

The underreporting of phase III chemo-therapeutic clinical trial data of older patients with cancer: A systematic review.

Purpose: Inspired by the American Society of Clinical Oncology's recommendations to strengthen the evidence base for older adults with cancer, the purpose of this systematic review is to identify the reporting of treatment efficacy and adverse events specific to older adults with cancer in Phase III chemo-therapeutic clinical trials. This review also investigates the frequency with which these data points were reported in the literature to identify gaps in reporting and opportunities to expand the knowledge base on clinical outcomes for older adults with cancer.

Methods: Chemo-therapeutic clinical trial data published from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017 was reviewed.

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) curriculum integration and sustainability: Social work and nursing faculty perspectives.

Background: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has funded grants to universities to provide training and conduct research on the dissemination of Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) to health care professionals. However, when it comes to integrating SBIRT content into an existing curriculum, difficulties can arise. When there is so much content already in the curriculum, adding more can be challenging.

Testing domains of the healing experiences in all life stressors questionnaire in a cohort of HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected Chicago women.

Purpose: Patients may deal with issues of spiritual and religious meaning when coping with life-threatening or chronic illness. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed the healing experiences in all life stressors (HEALS) questionnaire, an assessment to determine psychosocial spiritual adjustment to healing. Many measures assess religious and spiritual behavior, but there exists a need to capture the meaning of these factors in the process of healing.

The influence of relationships on the meaning making process: patients' perspectives.

Background: The diagnosis of a chronic or life limiting illness followed by treatment often requires an adjustment to life goals and expectations. With added existential concerns, patients' struggle to redefine life meaning while also finding ways to alleviate any distress that may occur. Central to the work of many scholars, meaning making is thought to be a vital component of negotiating traumatic life events while also essential to the positive adjustment in chronic illness and healing.

Social workers have an obligation to all patients regarding confidentiality … however, for some patients, the obligation is greater.

Social workers are held to many ethical obligations regarding patients including maintaining patient confidentiality and staying up to date on confidentiality laws, statutes, and regulations. As the landscape of health care continues to change, including the increased use of technology to maintain patient records, highlights this need. The changes in the regulations on confidentiality of those who are receiving substance use treatment, 42 CFR Part 2, are presented.

The Older Adult With Locoregionally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Knowledge Gaps and Future Direction in Assessment and Treatment.

Older adults with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) pose unique treatment and supportive care challenges to oncologists and other cancer care providers. The majority of patients with HNSCC present with locoregionally advanced disease, for which combined-modality treatment integrating chemotherapy and radiation therapy is often necessary to maximize tumor control. However, applying these approaches to an older population with concomitant comorbidities and a higher risk of functional impairments remains challenging and is exacerbated by the paucity of studies involving older adults.

An assessment of meaning in life-threatening illness: development of the Healing Experience in All Life Stressors (HEALS).

Context: Patients with life-threatening or chronic illness report an experience of increased positive psychological, social, and/or spiritual change during diagnosis and/or treatment of their illness, even in the face of unfavorable prognosis. This transformation begins through the ability to make their life meaningful by forming meaningful connections that emerge through self-introspection and relationships with a divine entity, nature, and other people. The Healing Experience in All Life Stressors (HEALS) assessment provides a way to identify distress-causing changes that may interfere with the development of meaning and psycho-social-spiritual homeostasis.

Financial Quality of Life for Patients With Cancer: An Exploratory Study.

For people who are experiencing financial hardship, a cancer diagnosis can be devastating. For others, cancer may exacerbate financial stress, thereby influencing their livelihood, their ability to maintain employment benefits including health insurance, manage financial obligations, and participate meaningfully in cancer treatment. This study examined how vulnerabilities in psychosocial situations affect financial quality of life within the larger context of health-care decision making through a survey conducted with a cross-sectional availability sample of 90 cancer patients.