To provide the best cancer supportive services to our clients, we stay up-to-date on oncology best practices, watch for promising research, and understand the latest treatments. By constantly staying in “learning mode,” our team is able to anticipate the needs of the patients, survivors, caregivers, and healthcare professionals we serve. Part of that learning process is being where the best minds in oncology gather. One such gathering is the annual meeting of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), one of the most important collaborations in the cancer care continuum. Representatives from NCCN’s 23 member institutions help create the clinical practice guidelines that oncologists use as a starting point for their decision-making process related to a patient’s treatment. PearlPoint staff attended NCCN’s recent annual meeting in Hollywood, Florida, where on March 15, NCCN released its first-ever practice guidelines for cancer survivorship.
The NCCN survivorship guidelines focus on the period of time after the patient has completed treatment. These guidelines represent a growing body of information because people are living longer after treatment, whether the cancer is completely eradicated or not. The NCCN hopes these guidelines will help oncologists talk to their patients about psychosocial and physical issues that often surpass treatment distress as survivors try to attain “new normal” lives. They highlight the importance of educating patients through a multidisciplinary team approach, an approach that includes organizations like PearlPoint Cancer Support.
Over the next eight weeks, we will address each of the NCCN survivorship areas in our Pearls of Wisdom blog including: anxiety and depression, cognitive function, exercise, fatigue, immunizations and infections, pain, sexual function, and sleep disorders. For over a decade, our team at PearlPoint has helped adults impacted by cancer address these issues and many others, through personalized guidance from our cancer supportive services team of dietitians, social workers, and cancer educators. Our new online tool, My PearlPoint, increases the speed with which we can deliver this important information. Watch for our blog series on cancer survivorship.
| Blog Author: Tracy Rode |
