APM 2013 Annual Meeting

This workshop will provide a review of the 'state of the art' in delivering psychiatric services to oncology. It will cover recent research into screening for distress and depression and the delivery of integrated management for depression, a description of practical implementation of services in a cancer center and of the challenge of meeting the psychiatric needs of survivors of cancer.

Dr. Walker will review depression screening in cancer patients from a clinical perspective. She will describe the practicalities of screening, including the pros and cons of including a suicidal thoughts item, based on her clinical practice and her research. She will report on the successes and challenges of running a large depression screening service on multiple geographical sites and present new data on the prevalence of major depression in cancer subgroups based on analysis of more than 100,000 screening episodes.

Dr. Sharpe will describe research into the evaluation of an integrated collaborative care approach (delivered by cancer nurses who are supervised by psychiatrists) to the management of depressive disorder in patients attending cancer clinics whose depression has been identified by screening. He will present the results of his two recently completed clinical trials: one in patients with a good cancer prognosis (cancer survivors) and one in patients with a poor cancer prognosis (lung cancer).

Dr. Rosenstein will provide an update on recent developments in cancer survivorship care relevant to C-L psychiatrists. He will describe the major psychosocial challenges facing cancer survivors as well as several different models of survivorship care. Particular attention will be paid to the variety of roles that psychiatrists play in caring for cancer survivors and their caregivers. He will also review recent requirements and expectations of cancer centers with respect to the identification of and response to the mental health needs of cancer patients.

Dr. Fann will describe the practical experience of applying a collaborative care service model to provide a population-based approach to integrated psychosocial oncology care in one cancer center: the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. He will present the key components and evolution of this integrated psychosocial service. Challenges and strategies used to overcome barriers to implementation will be discussed. Lessons learned will be emphasized to help programs lay the foundation for implementing such a model.