Applications are now open for a series of webinars on psycho-oncology.
3 Apr
15:30–18:30
Class 4. Management of symptoms in patients with cancer. Implementation science and intervention development in psycho-oncology
- Insight
During this topic we will go through the management of symptoms for patients with cancer. The final topic will familiarise students with the concepts of implementation science and intervemtion development in the context of cancer care and psycho-oncology.
Class topics
- Managing cancer-related pain
- Managing nausea and vomiting
- Managing cancer-related fatigue
- Managing sexual problems
- Managing the neuropsychological impact of cancer and its treatment
- Managing sleep
- Managing weight and appetie issues
- Past webinars in this series
6 Mar
15:30–18:30
Class 1. Introduction to Psycho-Oncology. The concept of Health-Related Quality of Life assessment
- Insight
During the lecture the aim is to introduce students to the concept of psycho-oncology with a focus on the psychological, emotional, social and spiritual responses of individuals who are impacted by cancer. These individuals can be either the patients, or their wider circle such as their family and friends.The students will be introduced to the concept of Health-Related Quality of Life as well as other concepts related such as wellbeing. Students will be offered basick knowledge related to assessment of Health-Related Quality of Life that expands to basic psychometrics.
Class topics
- What is this course about?
- How can psycho-oncology knowledge help you in the future and why?
- What do we define as psycho-oncology?
- What are the concepts of illness experience, distress and coping?
- How can we critically evaluate evidenced-based interventions for fostering healing and faciliating coping?
- How psychology relates to social and biological biomarkers?
- What is Health-Related Quality of Life and how does it differ from related concepts?
- Which approaches exist on measuring Health-Related Quality of Life?
- How do assessment tools are developed?
- What quality indicators need to be established for this assessment tools?
- How to use novel techniques to assess Health-Related Quality of Life?
- What is a proxy-assessment?
10 Mar
15:30–18:30
Class 2. Implementing Health-Related Quality of Life in research and practice. Using Psycho-Oncology in End-of-Life Care
- Insight
This lecture’s aim is to explain how Health Related Quality of Life tools can be used both in clinical trials or research in general but also in clinical practice. Students will be provided with case studies and best practice elements of using Health Related Quality of Life data for the benefit of the patient. During the lecture, we will use the knowledge we have gained in assessing health-related quality of life and psycho-oncological support to provide case studies in using this knowledge with patients in palliative and end-of-life care.
Class topics
- How can data collected be analysed?
- What is the use of the data for clinicians and policymakers?
- What cultural differences may exist in considering data from patients
- How does Health-Related Quality of Life relate to aspects of mortality and patient satisfaction
- What is the role of the data in health services evaluation, drug development and cost-effectiveness
- What is palliative and end-of-life care?
- How can Health-Related Quality of Life be used with patients in palliative care?
- Can we critically evaluate approaches and interventions to dealing with dying patients?
- How can we manage symptoms such as pain, nausea and vomiting?
20 Mar
15:30–18:30
Class 3. Cancer risk: behavioral aspects. Screening and assessment in psycho-oncology
- Insight
The aim of this topic is to introduce students to concepts of risk perception and behavioral modification to prevent cancer and to the concept of screening for a number of psychological facets of patients with cancer such as distress, depression, and cognitive decline.
Class topics
- How can we work with modified risk factors (tobacco, diet, physical activity)?
- What are socioeconomic disparities and how they relate to cancer?
- What is the role of cancer screening in cancer prevention?
- Screening for distress
- Assessment and screening for depression
- Assessment and screening for cognitive decline
Lecturer
Angelos Kassianos holds the position of Lecturer in Health Psychology at the Department of Nursing of the Cyprus University of Technology. He holds a degree in Psychology with postgraduate and doctoral studies in Health Psychology at the University of Surrey in the UK.
His research interests extend to a wide range of applications of behavioral sciences in health and public health using a mixed methodology (quantitative, qualitative, meta-analysis). His research falls on the development and evaluation of innovative intervention programs using technology, on understanding the determinants of health-related behaviors such as vaccination, breastfeeding, exercise and smoking, adherence to pharmacotherapy and psycho-oncology. He also investigates teaching clinical reasoning skills through interactive tools using online patient simulations.
He has published extensively in scientific journals and presented at scientific conferences, while since 2019 he is the Associate Editor of the scientific journal Quality of Life Research
