Helen Webb – Conference Overview
Thank you to ELF for funding my attendance at the UKONS conference. It was a great learning experience to hear what other teams across the UK are offering in terms of personalised cancer care. There were a few talks in particular I wanted to highlight and found useful to reflect on.
As part of my role I regularly conduct holistic needs assessments with patients. During the conference there were a few presentations from a few trusts (including the Royal Marsden) who are currently using various frailty assessments e.g.in patients over 65 as part of their holistic needs assessment. This includes asking patients how they are managing walking, stairs, balance, their general fitness and cognition. They have MDTs set up specifically to discuss these patients and ensure patients access the relevant support. This includes nutrition, physiotherapy/exercise advice, cognition support mechanisms, medications review, social support etc. Their research showed that without this support patients have poorer health outcomes and quality of life.
One of the stalls was advertising a product called polybalm, which when used reduces chemotherapy nail damage. This is a common concern patients express when having chemotherapy. The research of this product has been carried out by Cambridge University and in the NHS and been through a double-blind randomised trial. The company quotes a180 fold improvement in nail related quality of life when using the product. They also offer the product at discounted rate to cancer charities, so I wondered, pending discussion with the team if it might be something ELF (or FORCE) would consider supplying.
There were also some useful stalls on training and education available. I have since signed up to some educational programmes including The Christie Education Events.
There was also a interesting talk on mental illness and cancer. Research shows those with mental illnesses are more likely to have higher mortality rates and less likely to receive treatment. Patients felt that if their mental health was 'handed over' and they expressed wanting to feel cared for as a person. This is important in my role talking to patients about their needs and useful to reflect on.
There was talks on genomics in cancer care. This isn't something I speak to patients much about at present, but it will be useful to be aware as genomics is embedded in cancer care more in the future.
Talks on rehabilitation were interesting. In particular I noted the importance of family/partners being aware of expectations after treatment. Often partners often expect things to go back to normal after treatment and whilst patients are aware of recovery expectations this does not always extend to family/partners.
The Clatterbridge cancer centre had produced some useful videos of what to expect during treatment and showing treatment environments to help empower patients with this knowledge. I felt this was a great idea.
We had a interesting talk on sexual health and wellbeing. They mentioned this charity: OUTpatients - LGBTIQ+ Cancer Charity which is a useful resource to know about. They also made suggestions such as displaying pronouns on name badges. The talk particularly talked about members of the trans community undergoing cancer treatment and how this can impact other medications they may not be able to take e.g. facial hair reduction treatment. Other challenges were also discussed such as impacts such as body dysmorphia e.g. after a mastectomy.
I also attended a discussion session on cancer and domestic violence. We heard from someone who shared a personal story of suffering domestic abuse and impacts on her. Macmillan have produced a resource called Cancer and domestic abuse: A toolkit for professionals, which will be useful to refer to.
We listened to a powerful keynote speech regarding compassionate leadership and the importance of showing colleagues compassion and empathy to better understand each other's challenges and ensure good teamwork.