DAVID WILLIAM KISSANE

..Exploratory factor analysis and item response theory (IRT) models assessed its psychometric properties...

..To provide a state-of-the-art review of communication skills training (CST) that will guide the establishment of a universal curriculum for fellows of all cancer specialties undertaking training as oncology professionals today...

..Group therapy both prevents and treats depression. Future research could address these bio-behavioral mechanisms...

..A preventive model of family-centered care applied to those at greatest risk is meritorious and in keeping with the aspirations of Cicely Saunders for improving the quality of hospice care...

..Mixed reports exist about the impact of supportive-expressive group therapy (SEGT) on survival...

..It commences during palliative care of terminally ill patients and continues into bereavement. The authors report a randomized, controlled trial...

..Given the debate about group therapy's association with increased survival in women with metastatic breast cancer, we were curious to check its effect at a much earlier stage in the cancer journey...

..This promotes compliance with anti-cancer treatments, including both the initiation of and perseverance with chemotherapy. This mechanism could prove to be a potentially important pathway in promoting longer survival...

..To assess psychosocial morbidity in women with breast cancer and to compare the differential rates between women with early stage and advanced disease...

..To develop a communication skills training module for health care professionals about how to conduct a family meeting in palliative care and to evaluate the module in terms of participant self-efficacy and satisfaction...

..Confirmatory validation is needed for the scale to be used as a measure of change in interventions designed to treat demoralization...

..Family-focused grief therapy is one model, used with both adolescent and adult families, that has promise for the field. The time has surely arrived for palliative medicine to focus on family-based research...

..However, there is little published evidence about processes of assessing facilitator competence in CST. This paper reports on the development and application of procedures to assess facilitator competence in a large-scale CST programme...

..To develop a workshop for training faculty to facilitate small group role play sessions for a communication skills training program and assess the impact of that workshop on the trainees' self-efficacy about facilitation skills...

..We developed and tested a CST module about discussing prognosis. Training consisted of didactic teaching, exemplary video and role-play sessions. The study aim was to develop the module and evaluate the effectiveness of the training...

..The objective of this paper is to report the implementation and assessment of the Comskil Training Curriculum at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center...

..Shared decision making is a tenet of contemporary medicine and oncology practice. How involved elderly patients want to be in making treatment decisions and how physicians perceive patient preferences for such involvement are uncertain...

..To determine whether the prevalence of mental disorders and related factors increase as advanced cancer patients get closer to death...

..Mixed anxiety/depression is associated with poorer psychosocial and treatment outcomes, worse quality of life, pooreradherence to treatment, slower recovery, greater suicide risk, and highercost-utilization...

..End-of-life (EOL) communication is essential for the implementation of ICU palliative care. The objective of this review was to summarize current research and recommendations for ICU EOL communication...

..Here we examine modifiable workplace factors and other stressors associated with burnout, psychiatric morbidity, and low QOL, together with interest in interventions to reduce distress and improve wellness...

..The well-being or distress experienced can have a significant effect on clinicians and their families, the quality of care provided to patients, and the success of the health care organization...

..Despite this, there is little DNR utilization data to guide the design of communication-training programs. The objective of this study was to determine DNR utilization patterns and whether their use is increasing...

..To evaluate recent studies of psychosocial interventions to improve survival, health, quality of life, and somatic symptoms for patients with cancer...

..We conducted a randomised, controlled trial of cognitive-existential group therapy (CEGT) for women with early stage breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy with the aim of improving mood and mental attitude to cancer...

..To compare two self-report questionnaires for identifying possible depression in women with metastatic breast cancer...

..We suggest this difference in the quality of depression represents a difference in illness experience of the two groups and has relevance for the ways we treat depression in the medically ill...

..Consistent application of FFGT, with attention to its four key themes of family communication, cohesiveness, conflict resolution, and shared grief has been demonstrated. The model is generalizable when applied by family therapists...

..Quality of life is substantially affected. Clinicians need to be vigilant in monitoring psychological adjustment as part of a comprehensive biopsychosocial approach...

..To assess the psychosocial impact of the diagnosis of either localised or metastatic prostate cancer (PCA) on patients and their female partners...

..To examine the psychological and social adjustment of men with early or advanced stage prostate cancer and to compare them with a matched group of cancer-free community volunteers...

..The predictive validity of the FRI as a screening measure was confirmed. Overall, these baseline data point to the importance of a family-centred model of care...

..These results are consistent with other recent studies of the HADS. The type of constructs measured by the scale is the likely explanation for its limited utility when screening for psychiatric morbidity in early stage breast cancer...

..Bereavement care will be approached preventively with a continuity of care model. ..

..Bereavement care will be approached preventively with a continuity of care model. ..

..Bereavement care will be approached preventively with a continuity of care model. ..