The conference will feature the following symposia, as well as sessions of selected abstract presentations. Click here to view a detailed program, including the presentation abstracts and a listing of session presenters.

Click the links below for a full description of each symposium session. More schedule details may be found in the registration brochure (PDF), located on the Registration page.

Symposium One: Will You Remember Me? Talking about Death and Dying with Children and Adolescents

Symposium Two: At a Distance: Conducting a Multisite, Behavioral Clinical Trial with Adolescents/Young Adults Undergoing Stem Cell Transplant

Symposium Three: Spirituality in Cancer Patients

Symposium Four: Improving Access to Care for Underserved Populations: Beyond Insurance

Symposium Five: Survivor and Caregiver Quality of Life: What it is, How to Measure it and its Relevance in the Clinical Setting

Symposium Six: When Night Falls: Sleep in Cancer Patients

Symposium One: Will You Remember Me? Talking about Death and Dying with Children and Adolescents

Speakers: Lori Wiener PhD, National Cancer Institute; Maryland Pao MD, National Institute of Mental Health; Anna C Muriel MD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Discussant: Tara Brennan PsyD, National Cancer Institute

This symposium will highlight important aspects in discussing death and dying with children/adolescents facing their own deaths, as well as children whose parents or siblings are terminally ill. We will address multidisciplinary research findings and psychotherapeutic interventions. Researchers and practitioners can use this information to reduce distress around end-of-life discussions; improve care among ethnically diverse, minority and medically vulnerable populations; and identify strategies and national resources for this population.

Symposium Two: At a Distance: Challenges to and Solutions for Conducting a Multisite, Behavioral Clinical Trial with Adolescents/Young Adults Undergoing Stem Cell Transplant

Speakers: Cynthia Bell RN MSN and Celeste Phillips-Salimi MSN RN CPON, PhD Students at Indiana University School of Nursing; Yvonne J Barnes RN MSN CPNP-PC, St Louis Children's Hospital; Lona Roll RN MSN, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Children's Hospital; Kristin Stegenga RN PhD CPON, Children's Mercy Hospital
Discussant: Joan E Haase PhD RN, Indiana University School of Nursing

This symposium will focus on three aspects of implementing and monitoring the complexity inherent in implementing the subject study: (a) designing a developmentally appropriate, non-burdensome data entry system using laptop computers for adolescents/young adults undergoing stem cell transplant; (b) engaging clinical staff at the appropriate levels to facilitate the study in their units; and (c) developing and implementing a data quality assurance monitoring program across sites.

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Symposium Three: Spirituality in Cancer Patients

Speakers: Natalie Hamrick PhD, Indiana University School of Medicine; Carla Parry PhD, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Ellen Levine PhD MPH, San Francisco State University

Spirituality and religiousity have been found to influence quality of life, coping and distress. This symposium introduces the concept of spirituality as it influences quality of life and other survivorship issues among cancer patients and survivors, with application to different age and ethnic groups. Dr Hamrick will present an overview of the role of spirituality in coping with cancer. Dr Parry will discuss spiritual data from interviews with leukemia and lymphoma survivors. Dr Levine will describe differences in spirituality between breast cancer survivors from different ethnic groups.

Symposium Four: Improving Access to Care for Underserved Populations: Beyond Insurance

Speakers: Barbara Powe PhD, RN, Adrienne White MPH and Angelina Esparza MPH, RN, American Cancer Society; Sandra Underwood PhD, RN, FAAN, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

This symposium will explore the implications of availabililty of racially and ethnically diverse nurses on access to appropriate care. Successful partnerships between communities and the American Cancer Society for enhancing access to care will be described, as well as a patient navigation model that partner community hospitals and the American Cancer Society to enhance access to care.

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Symposium Five: Survivor and Caregiver Quality of Life: What it is, How to Measure it and its Relevance in the Clinical Setting

Speakers: Natalie Hamrick PhD, Indiana University School of Medicine; Mitch Golant PhD, The Wellness Community - National; Teri Simoneau PhD, Rocky Mountain Blood and Marrow Transplant Program

Numerous scales exist to assess quality of life (QOL) for cancer survivors and caregivers. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, but most oncology treatment professionals and researchers do not have the time to sift through the scales to find the one that best represents their target construct. This symposium will provide ample information for making an informed decision regarding the selection of a QOL scale, as well as present empirical data on QOL in the clinical setting.

Symposium Six: When Night Falls: Sleep in Cancer Patients

Speakers: Wayne Bardwell PhD, MBA, University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center; Sonia Ancoli-Israel PhD, University of California, San Diego; Joel Dimsdale MD, University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center; Josee Savard PhD, Laval University

Sleep disturbance is an all-too-common experience that can have a major impact on quality of life in cancer patients/survivors. Current clinical sleep research highlights the importance of understanding sleep quality and quantity prior to, during and after completion of initial treatment. This symposium will address the multiply determined causes of sleep disturbance and its impact on functioning in cancer patients/survivors, including (a) associations between sleep and fatigue; (b) the reciprocal effects of pain and sleep; (c) risk factors for enduring insomnia; and, (d) Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) in cancer patients/survivors. Attendees will learn how sleep is linked with other symptoms and overall quality of life, key factors for the identification of individuals at risk for enduring sleep disturbance, and the effectiveness of CBT-I tailored to the needs of cancer patients/survivors.

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