In the United States, there are over 16.9 million cancer survivors. Six million of these survivors will experience significant distress related to cancer with even greater distress for those with advanced stage cancers. Distress includes challenges adjusting to cancer-related emotional (i.e., anxiety, uncertainty, depression), social (i.e., support, health care access, financial toxicity) and functional problems (i.e., fatigue, pain, insomnia) – all amenable to evidence-based psychosocial interventions, but often untreated. Distressed patients experience greater cancer morbidity including poorer quality of life, poorer treatment adherence, more medical service utilization as well as higher cancer-related mortality.

 

Patients need access to a psychosocial workforce with a core set of evidence-based psychosocial oncology knowledge and skills to address the most distressing unmet needs of patients with cancer. Psychosocial Oncology (PSO) is the interdisciplinary field in oncology that focuses on the psychological, social, and behavioral aspects of cancer throughout the cancer trajectory. Unfortunately, access to evidence based psychosocial oncology care is poor related to too few professional education programs and few mental health professionals specializing in PSO. Access is likely to decrease over time. In 2040, there will be an estimated 30 million cancer survivors secondary to improvements in treatment and the aging of the US population. Currently 64% of non- metropolitan counties do not have a psychiatrist, 47% do not have a psychologist, and by 2030, there is a projected shortage of social workers in the U.S.20. Rural and minority patients, in particular, report greater unmet psychosocial needs and more adverse social determinants of health.

 

The shortage of mental health care workers, increases in cancer patient volume, and inequitable access to psychosocial cancer care require immediate and innovative solutions. We need to build capacity to meet the demand for high quality, evidence-based equitable psychosocial care for all patients to optimize cancer outcomes. In 2022, Dr. Wells-Di Gregorio, in collaboration with an American Psychosocial oncology national Advisory Panel, launched the Psychosocial Oncology Virtual Academy. This is a 16-session certificate course designed to build the national psychosocial oncology workforce targeting dissemination to underserved communities. The curriculum is based on the Psychosocial Oncology Core Curriculum (Wells-Di Gregorio, et al, 2022) developed by the APOS Professional Education Committee and aligned with psychosocial oncology core competencies (Flowers & Wells-Di Gregorio; in process).

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Selected Publications

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1. Wells‐Di Gregorio, S., Deshields, T., Flowers, S. R., Taylor, N., Robbins, M. A., Johnson, R., ... & Kayser, K. (2022). Development of a psychosocial oncology core curriculum for multidisciplinary education and training: Initial content validation using the modified Delphi Method. Psycho‐Oncology, 31(1), 130-138. Read it Here!

2. Deshields, T. L., Wells‐Di Gregorio, S., Flowers, S. R., Irwin, K. E., Nipp, R., Padgett, L., & Zebrack, B. (2021). Addressing distress management challenges: Recommendations from the consensus panel of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society and the Association of Oncology Social Work. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, 71(5), 407-436. Read it Here!

3. Pirl, W. F., Greer, J. A., Wells-Di Gregorio, S.., Deshields, T., Irwin, S., Fasciano, K., ... & Fann, J. R. (2020). Framework for planning the delivery of psychosocial oncology services: An American psychosocial oncology society task force report. Psycho‐Oncology, 29(12), 1982-1987. Read it Here!

4. Wells‐Di Gregorio, S., Porensky, E. K., Minotti, M., Brown, S., Snapp, J., Taylor, R. M., ... & Andersen, B. L. (2013). The James Supportive Care Screening: integrating science and practice to meet the NCCN guidelines for distress management at a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Psycho‐oncology, 22(9), 2001-2008 Read it Here!