Significant discrepancies in cancer diagnosis, treatment and care and, therefore, cancer outcomes exist among EU countries. They are most pronounced between Western and Eastern Europe. In Poland, one in four will be diagnosed with cancer, but chances for successful treatment outcomes are below 30% there, compared to 45% in Western countries in the EU. Also, only 20% of patients are diagnosed and undergo treatment at an early stage in Poland compared to 80% of patients in Western EU countries. For many indicators of cancer treatment, from per capita health investments to access to innovative medicines and the number of trained psycho-oncologists, Poland ranks near or at the bottom among all EU member states.

A $375,000, two-year grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to the Urszula Jaworska Foundation in partnership with the Polski Komitet Zwalczania Raka (Polish Committee for Cancer Treatment) and the National Health Fund (Poland’s public health agency), will aim at helping patients cope with a cancer diagnosis, as well as long term survivorship, by building a multifaceted patient and family-centered psychosocial support program. The program will begin at three oncology clinics in Warsaw, and then expand to two cities in eastern Poland where unmet needs in cancer care and support are greatest.

Integrated efforts will seek to provide a continuum of support for patients and family members as treatment and care move from the hospital setting into communities, including relatively remote regions of the country. These will include training by a psycho-oncologist of health care professionals, patient rights advocates and patient peers in psychosocial support, leveraging curricula developed by the International Psychosocial Oncology Society; creation of oncology clinic-based support groups and workshops and community-based support groups and workshops; the establishment of a helpline to link patients and family members to support groups and of a web-based cancer patient support group.

The governments and health systems of many countries in Central and Eastern Europe are ill-equipped to handle the growing number of cancer deaths in the region, caused by a growing aged population, changes in lifestyle/health habits, as well as widening political, social and economic gaps. What’s more, there are few skilled professionals who are adequately trained to address the increasingly complex medical and psychosocial needs of people with cancer. Hungary, for example, has the highest cancer mortality rate in the region and standards for oncology and palliative as well as pain relief are insufficient compared to its neighbors.

A two-year, $385,000 grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to the NASW and CancerCare will focus on disseminating psychosocial oncology best practices to social workers in Hungary.

In year one of the project, NASW and CancerCare will host a psychosocial oncology best practice exchange summit in Hungary. The summit will be held with key leaders in oncology practice in Hungary to determine best practices in psychosocial cancer care. NASW and CancerCare will provide information and guidance on best practices learned in the United States, in part through multi-year Foundation-supported efforts of ICAN (the Individual Cancer Assistance Network), which has helped train social workers to provide better support services to cancer patients and their families in local communities. A report of best practices will be developed and disseminated throughout Hungary and made available to social work professionals in the U.S. This exchange will not only strengthen psychosocial oncology services in Hungary, but also in the U.S., as social workers serve immigrants from Eastern European countries. In year two, summit attendees will be able to compete for year-long seed grants to implement or strengthen a psychosocial oncology best practice in Hungary.

Also in year two, the two organizations will work with an Hungarian university partner and an advisory committee to modify the current Understanding Cancer web-based social worker training course for social work professionals and others in Hungary. To date, more than 25,000 people have taken the existing Understanding Cancer course, representing 80 countries, and nearly 7,000 have taken the Cancer Caregiving course offered by the two organizations.

The International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS), established in 1984, to foster international multidisciplinary communication about clinical, educational and research issues related to the response of patients, families and staff to cancer and its treatment at all stages and the psychological, social and behavioral factors that influence tumor progression and survival. As such, it seeks to foster the science of psychosocial and behavioral oncology and improve the care of cancer patients and their families throughout the world.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation will aid IPOS efforts to target support to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania with a $100,000 grant to help form regional and national psycho-oncology societies to actively promote the improvement of access to and the quality of psycho-oncology care in those countries. Hungary and Poland already have established psycho-oncology societies with which IPOS will continue to partner to promote the field and support services to the community. Membership in the IPOS Federation will enable professionals in Romania and the Czech Republic to join with the Polish and Hungarian societies in a regional partnership. This consortium will leverage their combined voices to advocate for increased recognition of the need to integrate psychosocial services in cancer care. The creation and support of professional networks in these countries, where psycho-oncology professionals often feel isolated, is critical.

In addition, IPOS will establish mentoring programs, build professional networks, use its expertise to establish programs such as telephone help lines for those affected by cancer, translate and disseminate a core curriculum in psychosocial oncology and other materials, and develop survey instruments to assess the level of psychosocial services in oncology in the four countries.