With this December 2018 issue of the SIOG Nursing & Allied Health newsletter, the governance of the SIOG Nursing & Allied Health (NAH) Interest Group would like to inform you of the recent news and information in the field of geriatric oncology related to nursing and allied health.

In 2019, this newsletter will continue to appear quarterly (March, June, September, December) and will include some general information, a special topics section under NAH Post, and a column to meet and greet (new) members and highlight their work and research. A short report on past events relevant for nurses and allied health professionals will also be included. For an overview of upcoming events at SIOG,  web links will be provided for information and relevant articles.

As always, you can contact the SIOG NAH Interest Group leadership with your ideas and contributions for the newsletter or for more information by sending an email through the Head Office (info@siog.org).

Enjoy this December issue, happy holidays and very best wishes for 2019 !

Aligned with the aims of SIOG, the Nursing & Allied Health Interest Group develops and promotes, excellence in geriatric oncology nursing and allied health by working along the SIOG strategic directions: education/clinical practice, research, and advocacy/communication. It oversees the nursing and allied health related activities that are included in SIOG scientific, educational and advocacy related projects.

We are happy to introduce the governance group of the Nursing & Allied Health Interest Group for the period 2018-2020. <More>

We are happy to announce that there will be several new activities and initiatives coming up for the Nursing & Allied Health community. Starting in the new year, there will be NAH Interest conference calls planned to discuss educational / research topics and other topics on a regular basis.  Additionally, we will organize webinars to provide state of the art evidence and research related to the NAH field in geriatric oncology.  More information on the schedule of these activities will be shared in our newsletters.

Written by Tegan Murnane - Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre - Senior Social Worker

Feeling Youthless: Psychosocial Care for Older Patients at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre – A Scoping Project

The last ten years has seen a significant increase in older people attending Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. In 2004, there were 10,335 patients aged over 65 who attended outpatient appointments at the hospital and by 2014, this number raised to 15,510. 2510 patients aged 65 and over were admitted to Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in 2004 with this number rising to 3094 by 2014 and the number of newly registered patients in this cohort more than doubled from 4078 to 8191, during this same time period. <More>

List of publications related to the care for older patients with cancer by SIOG Nursing and Allied Health members (September 2018 - November 2018):

List of publications:

1. 1. Baitar A, Kenis C, Decoster L, De Greve J, Lobelle JP, Flamaing J, et al. The prognostic value of 3 commonly measured blood parameters and geriatric assessment to predict overall survival in addition to clinical information in older patients with cancer. Cancer. 2018;124(18):3764-75.
2. 2. Dalmasso B, Hatse S, Brouwers B, Laenen A, Berben L, Kenis C, et al. Age-related microRNAs in older breast cancer patients: biomarker potential and evolution during adjuvant chemotherapy. BMC Cancer. 2018;18(1):1014.
3. 3. Ganesh V, Chan S, Zhang L, Drost L, DeAngelis C, Wan BA, et al. Management of radiation-induced nausea and vomiting with palonosetron in patients with pre-existing emesis: a pilot study. Ann Palliat Med. 2018;7(4):385-92. <More>

Our network consists of passionate members, who are all dedicated to constantly further develop international collaborations to exchange ideas, resources and solutions.  In this issue of our Newsletter, we invite you to meet and greet Peggy Den Hartog from the Netherlands Cancer Institute.

As a Nurse Practitioner (NP) I work in the Netherlands Cancer Institute/ Antoni van Leeuwenhoek; in the outpatient setting, for the department of medical oncology / gastroenterology.

I am a board member of the Dutch Geriatric Oncology Foundation – Gerionne. A national foundation that calls attention to the specific problems of older cancer patients and that is committed to improving care for this group.

Since 8 years, I enjoy working within the focus Geriatric Oncology.
As a NP I perform a Geriatric Assessment (GA); make a summary of the outcomes of GA; formulate geriatric interventions and discusses this in the multidisciplinary geriatric oncology consultation with the geriatrician. I introduce these results in the multidisciplinary oncology consultation where the treatment decisions are made and I am responsible for the implementation and follow up of geriatric interventions, during and after treatment.
With NP’s in these lead roll, we think in our department that we can improved the gap between GA outcomes and the implementation of interventions and follow up.

Written by Fay Strohschein, RN, PhD(c) and Lorelei Newton, RN, PhD - Co-chairs, Oncology & Aging Special Interest Group, Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology

We had an enthusiastic response to the Oncology & Aging Special Interest Group (O&A SIG) initiatives that took place at the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO) conference in Prince Edward Island from October 26 to 29, 2018.  We would like to thank Dr. Martine Puts, Dr. Cindy Kenis, and Dr. Kristen Haase of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) Nursing and Allied Health (NAH) Governance Group, and O&A SIG work group member Ms. Rana Jin, who collaborated with us to make these workshops and presentations happen. <More>

Written by Schroder Sattar and Martine Puts

The International Society of Geriatric Oncology held its annual meeting this year in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, November 16-18. This year the society welcomed 523 delegates across various disciplines, also representing nursing and allied health professionals.

We had a great turnout at the NAH sessions this year, which were attended by not only nursing and allied health professionals, but also physicians from geriatrics and general oncology. The NAH Research Session included presentations of research projects from the Netherlands and Canada, with salient topics ranging from fatigue in patients with advanced cancer and their caregivers presented by Dr. Marlies Peters; sexuality in older patients with cancer presented by Ms. Corien Eeltink; to falls in older patients with cancer presented by Dr. Schroder Sattar. For the SIOG NAH/EONS/CANO joint session, the key topic was Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) program implementation projects/strategies and nurse/NAH role; these studies were presented by researchers from the Netherlands (Ms Peggy de Hartog), Belgium (Dr. Michelle Lycke), Canada (Ms. Fay Strohschein), and Great Britain (Dr. Jackie Bridges) Overall, the NAH sessions were well-received by members of the NAH community also the physician group. <More>

An overview of future SIOG and other events is published on the SIOG website.

You can find all issues of the SIOG NAH newsletter online and on our Facebook page (SIOG Nursing & Allied Health Interest Group).