Cancer survivors needed for study

Lots of news came out of the European Society for Medical Oncology's 35th Congress over the past few days. On Sunday, there was a meeting on the need for psychosocial rehabilitation programs for survivors. Patients, survivors, and advocates shared information with health care professionals about the ongoing need and importance for psychosocial support during and after treatment.

I was reading a press release about that meeting when I got a note from Katy Plant, MPH, study manager at the Stanford Patient Education Research Center. Katy said they are still looking for survivors for their "Cancer: Surviving and Thriving" workshop and have changed the requirements to allow for more participants.

This study is trying to achieve what was discussed at ESMO this past week--create a support program for cancer survivors.I've blogged about this study before so I won't go into great detail but this Internet-based workshop aims to help survivors with the unique issues that confront them post-treatment, such as fatigue, emotional concerns, physical changes, and late effects of treatment.

It also assists survivors in talking to family, friends, and health professionals about their cancer and offers social networking to connect with other survivors online. Each workshop is led by a survivor.

An earlier study by Stanford showed that participants who developed confidence in managing their own health required fewer medical interventions and were overall healthier. For more information and requirements for the current study, go to cancersurvivors.stanford.edu or email mailto:cancersurvivors@standford.edu.