Adaptation of meaning-centered psychotherapy for healthcare providers to buffer work-induced distress and improve wellbeing.

Healthcare providers (HCPs) face high rates of distress, experienced as burnout, moral distress, compassion fatigue, and grief. HCPs are also experiencing a crisis in meaning whereby distress is associated with disconnection from meaning in work and, in turn, a lack of meaning in work can further perpetuate distress for HCPs. Although scalable systems-level solutions are needed to tackle multidimensional HCP distress, it is also necessary to address HCP suffering at individual, team, and institutional levels.

Considerations for Evaluating Older Adults with Cancer for Depression: A Qualitative Survey of Experts.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to engage national experts in geriatric psychiatry and oncology in qualitative interviews to develop consensus regarding how older adult cancer survivors (OACS) experience depressive symptoms, and how best to assess OACs for depression.

Methods: Expert clinicians in geriatric oncology disciplines were interviewed about approaches to assessing depression in OACs. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed, and conducted until thematic saturation was achieved.

Meaning-centered psychotherapy training program for cancer care clinicians: Efficacy and impact of the first 5 years.

Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP) is a manualized, evidence-based intervention designed to help cancer patients to find meaning and alleviate distress. Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy Training (MCPT) is a multicomponent program for cancer care clinicians that consists of didactics, group experiential learning, and role-plays with simulated patients to learn MCP and acquire skills to deliver it in real-world oncology settings. The efficacy and impact of MCPT for multidisciplinary cancer care clinicians to learn and disseminate MCP is described and evaluated.

Cognitive effects of long-term androgen deprivation therapy in older men with prostate cancer.

Objective: Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is a common treatment for prostate cancer (PCa), with increasing numbers of men on ADT for longer. Limited evidence suggests ADT impacts cognition. This study addressed gaps in the literature by focusing on older men with PCa and assessing ADT usage longer than 1 year.

A survey of statistical methods utilized for analysis of randomized controlled trials of behavioral interventions.

Objectives: Given the many statistical analysis options used for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of behavioral interventions and the lack of clear guidance for analysis selection, the present study aimed to characterize the predominate statistical analyses utilized in RCTs in palliative care and behavioral research and to highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of these methods as guidance for future researchers and reform.

Methods: All RCTs published between 2015 and 2021 were systematically extracted from 4 behavioral medicine journals and analyzed based on prespecified inclusion criteria. Two independent raters classified each of the manuscripts into 1 of 5 RCT analysis strategies.

How patients with advanced cancer conceptualize prognosis: A phenomenological qualitative inquiry.

Background: Despite the importance of accurate prognostic understanding in patients with advanced cancer, there is little consensus around how to conceptualize and measure the multidimensional construct. Most studies focus on single aspects of prognostic understanding (e.g.

On taking up space: a qualitative inquiry of depression in older adults with cancer.

Objective: To identify the phenomenology of depression in older adults with cancer (OACs) in order to improve the accuracy of depression screening for this population.

Method: Inclusion criteria were: ≥70 years old, history of cancer, no cognitive impairment or severe psychopathology. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a diagnostic interview, and a qualitative interview.

Psychosocial well-being among patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Objectives: The investigators conducted a psychosocial needs assessment of mesothelioma patients through self-report measures of quality of life (QOL), coping, depression, and social support.

Methods: Patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) ( = 67) completed a battery of assessments at a single timepoint after being approached during routine medical oncology clinic appointments or by letter.

Results: Participants were predominately male (70.

Cancer and aging: Reflections for elders- Expressive writing intervention: A pilot study.

Objectives: The Cancer and Aging: Reflections for Elders Expressive Writing Intervention (CARE-Express) was developed to enhance coping and minimize psychological distress in older adults with cancer. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the feasibility and initial efficacy of CARE-Express.

Materials And Methods: Seventy-one distressed older adults (≥70) with cancer were assigned to CARE-Express (n = 41) or the Enhanced Social Work Control (ESWC) arm (n = 30).

Prognostic implications of depression and inflammation in patients with metastatic lung cancer.

Lung cancer-related inflammation is associated with depression. Both elevated inflammation and depression are associated with worse survival. However, outcomes of patients with concomitant depression and elevated inflammation are not known.

A Systematic Review of Treatment Options for Grieving Older Adults.

Purpose Of Review: a)The purpose of this systematic review was to characterize the studies published on grief interventions for bereaved older adults in the last 5 years. Grief intervention studies were included that exclusively focused on older adults as well as those that included older adults in their samples, in order to summarize the most up-to-date treatment options available for bereaved older adults.

Recent Findings: b)Twenty-four articles that investigated grief interventions in older adults were identified.

Health Information Preferences and Curability Beliefs Among Patients With Advanced Cancer.

Context: Accurate prognostic understanding is associated with increased advance care planning, symptom control, and patient autonomy in oncology. The impact of prognostic understanding on patients' health information preferences (HIPs) and prognostic information preferences is unknown and has important implications for health care communication.

Objectives: The present study characterized the HIPs of patients with advanced cancer; examined differences in HIPs between patients with varying curability beliefs; and identified differences in the characteristics and psychological well-being of patients with varying curability beliefs.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale in Oncology With Examination of Invariance Between Younger and Older Patients.

Accurate measurement of depressive symptoms in the cancer setting is critical for ensuring optimal quality of life and patient outcomes. The present study compared the one-factor, correlated two-factor, correlated four-factor, and second-order factor models of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), a commonly used measure in oncology settings. Given the importance of adequate psychometric performance of the CES-D across age groups, a second aim was to examine measurement invariance between younger and older adults with cancer.

Psychotherapy at the End of Life.

Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross is credited as one of the first clinicians to formalize recommendations for working with patients with advanced medical illnesses. In her seminal book, , she identified a glaring gap in our understanding of how people cope with death, both on the part of the terminally ill patients that face death and as the clinicians who care for these patients.

Is screening for psychosocial risk factors associated with mental health care in older adults with cancer undergoing surgery?

Background: Surgery is a notable stressor for older adults with cancer, who often are medically and psychosocially complex. The current study examined rates of preoperative psychosocial risk factors in older adults with cancer who were undergoing elective surgery and the relationship between these risk factors and the provision of mental health services during the postoperative hospitalization.

Methods: A total of 1211 patients aged ≥75 years who were referred to the geriatrics service at a comprehensive cancer center were enrolled.

Implementation of a Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy training (MCPT) program for oncology clinicians: a qualitative analysis of facilitators and barriers.

The Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy training program (MCPT) is a multimodal, intensive, in-person program that trains cancer care providers in the evidence-based psychosocial treatment Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy (MCP). This analysis aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to clinical implementation (CI) at 1 year post-training. Trainee feedback regarding CI was collected via a mixed-methods questionnaire, including rating the ease of CI and free-text response identifying facilitators and barriers to CI.

Are we accurately evaluating depression in patients with cancer?

Depression remains poorly managed in oncology, in part because of the difficulty of reliably screening and assessing for depression in the context of medical illness. Whether somatic items really skew the ability to identify "true" depression, or represent meaningful indicators of depression, remains to be determined. This study utilized item response theory (IRT) to compare the performance of traditional depression criteria with Endicott's substitutive criteria (ESC; tearfulness or depressed appearance; social withdrawal; brooding; cannot be cheered up).

Neuropsychological Predictors of Decision-Making Capacity in Terminally Ill Patients with Advanced Cancer.

Objective: The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the neuropsychological underpinnings of decision-making capacity in terminally ill patients with advanced cancer.

Method: Participants were 108 English-speaking adults. More than half (n = 58) of participants had a diagnosis of advanced cancer and were receiving inpatient palliative care; the rest were healthy adults.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Increase Adherence to Penile Injection Therapy-Based Rehabilitation After Radical Prostatectomy: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: Despite the importance of using penile injections as part of a penile rehabilitation program, men have difficulty complying with these programs.

Aim: To test a novel psychological intervention based on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for erectile dysfunction (ACT-ED) to help men utilize penile injections.

Methods: This pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) recruited men who were beginning a standard care (SC) structured penile rehabilitation program following radical prostatectomy.