Congress Abstracts 2006

85

IMPROVING THE CARE OF LONG-TERM CANCER SURVIVORS: STATE OF THE SCIENCE AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Margaret Barton-Burke, PhD, RN, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA; Carol Curtiss, RN, MSN, self-employed, Greenfield, MA; PJ Haylock, RN, PhD(c), self-employed, Indian Creek, TX; Diana Mason, RN, PhD, American Journal of Nursing, New York, NY; Mary McCabe, RN, MS, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Dottie Gutaj, RN, BSN, Day Kimball Home Care, Putnam, CT; and Susan Leigh, RN, BSN, self-employed, Tucson, AZ.

In the United States, cancer survivors total over 10 million people (Edwards et al., 2005). This population comprises those survivors cured of their disease and no longer undergoing active treatment, as well as patients with recurrences or resistant disease requiring ongoing treatment.

With continued advances in strategies to detect cancer early and to treat it effectively, the number of people living years beyond a cancer diagnosis will continue to increase. Yet there is a lack of knowledge about long-term follow-up of cancer survivors and appropriate health care recommendations for this diverse population. Follow-up care is often provided by non-oncology health care providers who lack specialty expertise. Furthermore, there is a significant lack of data on the long-term experiences and follow up of cancer survivors. It is imperative that nurses and other health care providers understand the state of the science in this area and pursue strategies to improve survivors' care.

This presentation will discuss the outcomes from the "State of the Science Conference on Nursing Approaches for Managing Long-Term Sequelae of Cancer and Cancer Treatment" held July 2005. The goals of that symposium were to develop research priorities and recommendations for clinical care, education, and policy related to nursing care for survivors of cancer. Participants included leading nurse researchers; nurse experts in clinical practice, education, and administration; cancer survivors; representatives of consumer and national advocacy groups; as well as government and industry stakeholders.

The presentation will include the common problems faced by long term cancer survivors. Specific interventions related to family and psychosocial issues, neuropathic pain, sleep disturbances and fatigue, cognitive changes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular changes, male and female reproductive and hormonal changes.

The conference on long-term cancer survivors identified gaps in the science, recommended research priorities, identified barriers to improving the care of this population, and suggested strategies for overcoming or reducing these barriers across a variety of delivery systems.

Findings from this conference, including oncology nursing interventions, that specifically address the common clinical problems of long-term cancer survivors will be highlighted in this presentation.