Goal 1
Describe the effects of cancer and cancer treatment on quality of life and symptoms in cancer patients throughout the trajectory of disease.
Ongoing studies include:
- Describing quality of life in colorectal cancer survivors with stomas;
- Overcoming barriers to pain and fatigue management in medical oncology patients;
- Describing quality of life, symptoms and management in children with advanced cancer;
- Describing nursing staff and patient involvement with complementary and alternative medicine;
- Describing illness perception, pain and symptom distress in gastrointestinal cancers.
Goal 2
Test interventions to improve quality of life and symptom management for cancer patients from diagnosis and throughout treatment, survivorship and end of life care.
Ongoing studies include:
- Testing an intervention to improve quality of life in ovarian cancer patients;
- Testing a nursing intervention protocol for discharged HCT patients;
- Testing an intervention to decrease barriers to pain and fatigue management in medical oncology patients;
- Testing an intervention to improve adherence to oral chemotherapy;
- Testing a mindful movement intervention to improve quality of life in older breast cancer survivors;
- Testing a patient navigation intervention for newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.
Goal 3
Develop and disseminate curricula on palliative/end-of-life care and survivorship for health professions involved in cancer patient care.
Ongoing studies include:
- Disseminating end-of-life education to cancer centers;
- Targeting multidisciplinary teams;
- Disseminating the end-of-life curriculum for the undergraduate nursing curriculum, the graduate nursing curriculum, oncology nurses, pediatric nurses, critical care nurses and geriatric nurses;
- Disseminating and evaluating survivorship education for multidisciplinary teams caring from cancer patients;
- Disseminating and evaluating transdisciplinary palliative care education for psycho-oncology professionals through four annual courses and a reunion conference.
