Skip to content
AOSW
Sign In

Join Now

Donate

Search
  • My AOSW
    • Renew Membership
    • Logging Into Your AOSW Account
    • My Learning Portal
    • AOSW Member Directory
    • Mentorship
    • Networking
      • My AOSW Communities
    • Update Your Profile
    • Membership Certificate
    • Volunteer
    • AOSW Communities & SWON
    • Career Center
    • Member Resources
    • Log Out
  • Annual Conference
    • 2024 Annual Conference
    • Conference Objectives
    • 2023 Continuing Education
    • 2023 Exhibitors
    • Past Conferences
  • Events & Education
    • Calendar
    • Webinars
      • Continuing Education
      • Leadership Series
      • Recordings Library
    • 2022 Conference Recordings
      • Continuing Education
    • 2021 Virtual Meeting Recordings
      • Continuing Education
    • 2020 Virtual Meeting Recordings
      • Continuing Education
  • Resources
    • Publications
      • AOSW Connections
      • Journal of Psychosocial Oncology (JPO)
      • OSW NewsBrief
      • Advertise in OSW NewsBrief
    • Advocacy
      • COVID & Screenings
      • Post-COVID Telehealth Priorities
    • Scope and Standards of Practice
    • OSW-C Certification
    • Research
    • Student Supervision & Field Instruction Resources
    • Affiliated Organizations
  • Patients & Caregivers
    • Find an OSW Near Me
    • Tips for Care
    • Resources
  • About AOSW
    • Be Part of Our Community
    • Mission, Vision & Goals
    • Volunteer
    • Awards & Scholarships
      • Quality of Life Award Recipients
      • 2022 Award & Scholarship Recipients
      • LLS 2021 Awards
    • Leadership
      • Board of Directors
      • Committees
      • SIG Leaders
      • AOSW Fellows
      • Nominations & Elections
    • Special Interest Groups
    • State Representatives
    • Find an OSW Near Me
    • Contact Staff
    • Media Room
    • Sponsors & Support
    • Privacy Policy
    • Diversity & Inclusion Statement
    • Statement on Race
    • AOSW Statement of Policy Principles
    • Logging Into Your AOSW Account
AOSW
  • My AOSW
    • Renew Membership
    • Logging Into Your AOSW Account
    • My Learning Portal
    • AOSW Member Directory
    • Mentorship
    • Networking
      • My AOSW Communities
    • Update Your Profile
    • Membership Certificate
    • Volunteer
    • AOSW Communities & SWON
    • Career Center
    • Member Resources
    • Log Out
  • Annual Conference
    • 2024 Annual Conference
    • Conference Objectives
    • 2023 Continuing Education
    • 2023 Exhibitors
    • Past Conferences
  • Events & Education
    • Calendar
    • Webinars
      • Continuing Education
      • Leadership Series
      • Recordings Library
    • 2022 Conference Recordings
      • Continuing Education
    • 2021 Virtual Meeting Recordings
      • Continuing Education
    • 2020 Virtual Meeting Recordings
      • Continuing Education
  • Resources
    • Publications
      • AOSW Connections
      • Journal of Psychosocial Oncology (JPO)
      • OSW NewsBrief
      • Advertise in OSW NewsBrief
    • Advocacy
      • COVID & Screenings
      • Post-COVID Telehealth Priorities
    • Scope and Standards of Practice
    • OSW-C Certification
    • Research
    • Student Supervision & Field Instruction Resources
    • Affiliated Organizations
  • Patients & Caregivers
    • Find an OSW Near Me
    • Tips for Care
    • Resources
  • About AOSW
    • Be Part of Our Community
    • Mission, Vision & Goals
    • Volunteer
    • Awards & Scholarships
      • Quality of Life Award Recipients
      • 2022 Award & Scholarship Recipients
      • LLS 2021 Awards
    • Leadership
      • Board of Directors
      • Committees
      • SIG Leaders
      • AOSW Fellows
      • Nominations & Elections
    • Special Interest Groups
    • State Representatives
    • Find an OSW Near Me
    • Contact Staff
    • Media Room
    • Sponsors & Support
    • Privacy Policy
    • Diversity & Inclusion Statement
    • Statement on Race
    • AOSW Statement of Policy Principles
    • Logging Into Your AOSW Account

AOSW Connections

Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief
Amy Colver, LCSW

Editor
Melody Griffith, MSW, LMSW, OSW-C

AOSW Communications Director
Jeanice Hansen, LCSW, OSW-C

Managing Editor
Patricia Sullivan

Contribute Today!

To submit a story or information for inclusion in a future issue of AOSW Newsletter, contact Amy Colver or Melody Griffith on the list above.

Radiation Therapy SIG: Radiation Therapy as a Best-Practice Incubator for Psychosocial Care

February 1, 2016

Over recent years, with mandates from the 2008 IOM Report and the Commission on Cancer, best practices have been rapidly evolving in our world of psychosocial care in oncology. We can all likely identify with the constant effort to implement screening protocols, improve our workflows, and involve interdisciplinary teams in recognizing and addressing psychosocial distress. This is never-ending work, and there are always new methods to test and improvements to make.

Radiation therapy settings can be ideal formats for testing our screening protocols and psychosocial interventions. Several factors play into this:

  • Centralized setting. Patients who receive radiation therapy come to one place, so processes that involve multiple staff members can be implemented with a high degree of consistency.
     
  • Interdisciplinary teamwork. Radiation therapy requires a strong interdisciplinary infrastructure, which includes physicians, nurses, medical physics, radiation therapists, other clinic staff and social workers. This infrastructure can be a great asset when testing or implementing a new process.
     
  • Discreet episodes of care and frequent patient visits. Most radiation therapy patients come daily, with clear start and completion dates. They have a weekly on-treatment visit with the physician. The timing of psychosocial interventions can be aligned with radiation treatment planning, start of treatment, weekly physician visits, completion and follow-up.
     
  • Variety of cancer diagnoses. Nearly 2/3 of all cancer patients will receive radiation therapy during their illness, so the radiation therapy center is a place where patients with many different diagnoses, at different stages of illness, can be found at any one time.

For those who are working primarily in radiation therapy settings, we encourage you to stand up at your cancer center—offer yourself and your setting as a go-to site for testing and implementing new distress screening protocols. Then use your experience and wisdom to inform and prepare the other areas in your institution or your community.

For those in leadership positions and/or sitting on your institution’s cancer committee, remember your radiation therapy clinic and its social worker are a great potential resource for quality improvement at your cancer center.

On another note, I have an important update to share for our SIG. Kristen Huber and I have been co-leaders of the Radiation Therapy SIG since 2013. Due to job changes and new responsibilities, it is time for us to hand over leadership to someone new. Our work together on this SIG has truly been a testament to the value of AOSW. When I started my current job in Radiation Oncology, I found my crosstown colleague Kristen through the AOSW directory. I called her up and found both wisdom and practical help for getting started in this setting. Over the years we have worked together on the SIG, toured each other’s sites, shared ideas and challenges, and even had the great opportunity to present together at the 2014 AOSW Annual Conference. Collaborating as SIG leaders is a great way to build professional connections and think in new ways about your work. If you have any inkling of jumping into SIG leadership, contact me today—you won’t regret it!
 

About the Author

Sarah Conning, LCSW

Clinical Social Worker
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
Sacramento, California
seconning@ucdavis.edu

Sarah Conning LCSW, OSW-C, APHSW-C, is an oncology social worker at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, California. Sarah has more than 20 years of experience as an oncology social worker and currently supports an outpatient on...
Read Full Author Bio

Sarah Conning, LCSW

Clinical Social Worker
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center
Sacramento, California
seconning@ucdavis.edu

Sarah Conning LCSW, OSW-C, APHSW-C, is an oncology social worker at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center in Sacramento, California. Sarah has more than 20 years of experience as an oncology social worker and currently supports an outpatient oncology palliative care clinic. She is the 2022 AOSW President.

Articles

Advocacy - 2017: A Year for Coalition Advocacy
Advocacy and Oncology: A Perfect Match for Social Workers
Beyond Distress
Director's Report: Advocacy - AOSW Supports Better Access to Palliative Care
Making Space for Partnerships: Direct Practice, Research and Advocacy
President's Message: A Call to Community 
President's Message
Radiation Therapy SIG: Demystifying Radiation Therapy Treatment
Radiation Therapy SIG: Radiation Therapy as a Best-Practice Incubator for Psychosocial Care

 

Contact Us

AOSW Headquarters
111 W. Jackson Blvd. Suite 1412
Chicago, IL 60604

Phone: +1-847-686-2233
Fax: 847-686-2253

  • My AOSW
  • Annual Conference
  • Events & Education
  • Resources
  • Patients & Caregivers
  • About AOSW

Copyright © 2023 Association of Oncology Social Work

Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 13­-3736895

Privacy Policy  Terms of Service