Cancer patients and survivors have higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to the general population. Cancer-related anxiety and depression may significantly reduce wellbeing and result in adverse treatment and survival outcomes. This lecture will provide an overview of psychotherapeutic modalities that can treat cancer-related distress.

Yuri Fedoriw, MD, provides a general background of cancer pathology and tissue diagnosis. The development of testing methods and their application will be discussed, as will the limitations and challenges of cancer classification.

Farrell Wiggins MS, OTR/L, and Alexis Petteway, MS, OTR/L, provide insight into Occupational Therapy’s unique role in cancer rehabilitation. They explore the benefits of receiving OT in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Importantly, they also discuss the how occupational therapists measure and address cancer and chemotherapy related symptoms and occupational challenges in cancer survivors.

Patients with cancer who have minor-age children at home face unique psychosocial challenges in coping with impact of their diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. A parental cancer diagnosis threatens to disrupt family functioning, re-organize roles and responsibilities in the home, and negatively affect parenting self-efficacy. A parent’s ability to navigate these challenging times can have ramifications for years to come. The current webinar will provide an overview of the extent research in this field, offer strategies that providers can use to enhance the coping of parents with cancer, and describe a new clinic at UNC designed specifically to address the challenges facing this subset of the cancer population.