A new online quarterly magazine from the Lance Armstrong Foundation examines how complete patient care–physical as well as emotional–is being increasingly emphasized as a critical component in the treatment of cancer patients.
Traditional care has focused mainly on treating cancer as a medical condition in which emotional concerns and issues resulting from the diagnosis are often downplayed or not addressed at all. This is changing, as more and more oncologists and other health care providers acknowledge the integral role of counseling and emotional support for patients, their families, and caregivers.
Oncology social workers provide critical support to patients, notes CancerCare‘s Win Boerckel, who is quoted in the article; they can “help people normalize the experience of having cancer, so they can answer questions from their children or get to their next chemo appointment.”
Read the article, “Surviving the First 100 Days,” in the debut issue of LIVESTRONG Quarterly , beginning on page 22.
Posted by Kyle Hornyak