AUGUST 20189tion into implementing a holistic approach to provid-ing cancer care to both patients and their families.The late Dr. Jimmie Holland, founder of the field of Psycho-Oncology and the inaugural Chair-woman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the first such department created in any cancer center in the U.S. or the world. This critical as-pect of looking at the human side of cancer came at a time when stigma existed about talking to patients about their diagnosis. The patients were not told of their illness and in a lot of cases, did not wish to know, instead preferring to follow a more traditional and paternalistic path charted out by their doctors. Today, there exists a large variety of counselling and support group programs, in-cluding those designed to help individuals cope with cancer from the initial stage of diagnosis, through their treatments, to adjusting to post-treatment side effects and transitions in their prognosis. Psychotherapies involve a more eclectic approach and range from individual face to face sessions to web-based support groups. With a greater under-standing of on the connection between the mind and the body, a growing body of evidence based literature exists on psychosocial treatment modalities for cancer patient. For combating stress, bio-behavioral therapy includes training in relaxation, symptom manage-ment, healthful eating, and physical activity, marshal-ing social support, and communicating with health care professionals. Furthermore, we now have valid and reliable met-rics to assess psychological distress and specific psy-chological states, such as anxiety, depression, fatigue, social functioning, decision making, body image, fear of cancer recurrence, pain, among others.Psycho-Oncology also focuses on the health of caregivers assigned to patients diagnosed with can-cer. There are a number of psychological interven-tions that aim to assist and support patients and their families when dealing with advanced disease and end-of-life care. This psychological support helps in alleviating emotional suffering and in meeting and managing the many issues that arise during this dif-ficult time. The role of psychological interventions at times also indirectly improves treatment com-pliance and quality of life. Furthermore, there are cost benefits to addressing the emotional aspect of cancer. Research in the area of mental health, in cancer and within other patient groups, shows a large saving in medical billing through the treatment of emotional problems, resulting in greater trust among the treating teams and fewer visits to doctors and specialists after receiving psychosocial care. Today, this scientific disci-pline is being increasingly rec-ognized around the world as in-tegral to cancer care. Training in Psychology with additional exposure to oncology helps in bringing specialists to this area. Patients enter health-care systems with the hope of being understood medi-cally and treated with care, with psycho-oncologists playing a key role in fostering better physician and patient partnerships; thereby ensur-ing the patient is never alone in her journey to beat cancer. Regardless of the prognosis, research indicates that one-third of individuals diagnosed with cancer expe rience severe psychological distress and up to 70 per cent exhibit some degree of anxiety and depressionSuresh Ramu
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