Beyond Distress

• Distress: A multifactorial, unpleasant experience of a psychologic (i.e., cognitive, behavioral, emotional), social, spiritual, and/or physical nature that may interfere with the ability to cope effectively with cancer, its physical symptoms, and its treatment (NCCN).
• Social Determinants of Health: The non-medical factors that influence health outcomes. They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life (WHO).
• Social Risk Factors: “Specific adverse social conditions associated with poor health, such as social isolation or housing instability” (Alderwick and Gottlieb, 2019).

AOSW Annual Conference Update

To quote a 1990s Oleta Adams song: “I don’t care how you get here, just get here if you can.”
Fasten your seatbelts and get ready to ride, drive or fly to Raleigh, North Carolina USA, as AOSW’s Annual Conference is BACK IN PERSON! Finally, in 2022, we are able to experience in-person learning, and the conference committee cannot wait to see you June 15-17. Pre-Conferences will be offered on June 14. We are enthusiastically creating our Schedule-At-A-Glance and will share as soon as possible.

Book Review: Your Journey beyond Breast Cancer: Tools for the Road

Your Journey beyond Breast Cancer: Tools for the Road
Author: Louise B. Lubin, PhD
Reviewer: KrisAnn Talarico, LCSW, OSW-C
Your Journey beyond Breast Cancer: Tools for the Road is the culmination of Dr. Louise Lubin’s 40-year career as a clinical psychologist working with women and families affected by breast cancer. She very powerfully introduces these 202-pages as a guidebook full of information, tools and exercises designed to help a woman connect with her own inner healing wisdom. Indeed, each chapter provides strategies for coping with the impact of breast cancer, including tools for the body, mind and spirit, which are all conveniently catalogued at the end of the book.

Editors' Message

It’s February 2022, and that means our AOSW Annual Conference is just four months away! Is anyone in need of a physical or virtual get-away? This year more than ever, we may all need more of the inspiration, soul connection, perspective and renewal offered by the AOSW Conference. As you contemplate your next self-care or pandemic management strategy, keep in mind how rejuvenating it can feel to be among oncology social work peers and simply learn. No task lists, no phone calls, no clinic policies or politics to navigate. This is a time for you to add to your own knowledge bank, to consider your oncology social work practice in a new way, and to be among our esteemed colleagues who understand well the challenges of being a social worker in a time of social disconnection. It’s time for us to connect.
 

Social Determinants of Health and Cancer Care

Social Determinants of Health and Cancer Care
ASCO Podcast Series
 
In fall 2020, the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released an educational podcast series on Social Determinants of Health. Dr. Lori Pearce (the President of ASCO at the time of the podcast’s release) made it her mission to advance the delivery of equitable cancer care. The theme of Dr. Pearce’s presidency was Equity: Every Patient. Every Day. Everywhere. (ASCO, 2021). Equity continues to be a focus of the organization today (ASCO, 2022).