UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery Annual Report 2020

Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, UCC

Women’s Health Initiative - Cancer survivorship support for women: Plans to open a cancer Survivorship Clinic at CUH

For survivors of cancer, the pathway for managing and overcoming the often challenging symptoms and side effects arising from their treatment can be unclear. The Women’s Health Initiative is a ground- breaking new initiative by the Irish Cancer Society, which aims to address a long- standing gap in the identification and management of symptoms and side effects for women which have resulted from their cancer and treatments. The Women’s Health Initiative aims to improve health and wellbeing for women cancer survivors at all stages of their cancer journey through the establishment of pilot clinics to be based in Cork and Dublin. The clinics will involve initial groups of selected participants, and it is hoped that the two-year pilot scheme will eventually lead to the roll-out of a national programme for cancer survivors. Funding support of ¤400,000 from the Irish Cancer Society has been the catalyst for a total investment of ¤890,000 over two years by a consortium also involving the HSE, The Mater Private Hospital, the National Cancer Control Programme, Breakthrough Cancer Research and Pfizer Ireland.

As part of the initiative, the ‘Women’s Cancer Survivorship: Supporting and Innovating for Change’ programme led by Medical Oncologist UCC Professor Roisin Connolly at Cork University Hospital and the ‘Life After Cancer Clinic’ (LACC) led by UCD Professor of Gynae-Oncology Donal Brennan at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital will provide the first dedicated clinics for female cancer survivors nationwide. Both programmes will coordinate the delivery of a range of general and specialist health supports for female cancer survivors while also using latest technology to make the services more widely accessible for the initial chosen participants regardless of their location. The Clinic at Cork University Hospital Developed in collaboration with researchers from the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Johns Hopkins in the US, and supported by Co-PI Professor Josephine Hegarty from the UCC School of Nursing and Midwifery and the ECASP team, the ‘Women’s Cancer Survivorship’ programme will work with women at Cork University Hospital and regional hospitals who have completed their primary cancer

therapy. The Clinic will open as part of the pilot study in March 2021.

Using symptom management pathways developed as part of the programme, those using the new Survivorship Clinic will receive a Survivorship Plan and education on the management of important symptoms, and will be needs-assessed for referrals to appropriate specialists. The team: Principal Investigator Roisin Connolly, Co-Principal Investigator Josephine Hegarty (School of Nursing), Research team: Kate O’Connell (CNMII), Katie Bermingham (Dietetics), Laia Raigal (Research Assistant), Noreen Kearns (Post Doc). Collaborators: Vicki Cleary (CNS, CUH), Seamus O’Reilly (Med Onc, CUH), John Coulter (GYN Onc, CUMH), Mark Corrigan (Breast Surgery, SSWHG), Dearbhaile Collins (Consultant Med Oncologist, CUH), patient advocates, Cancer Support Services, Medical Oncology, Psycho-Oncology, Nutrition/ Dietetics, Gastro-enterology, UroGYN, Reproductive Medicine, Palliative Medicine, ECASP Group, School of Nursing, School of Therapies, School Public Health, Health Economics, OncoASSIST, Breakthrough Cancer Research.

62

CONTENTS

BACK

FORWARD