Thank you for taking time to read this post. I am an occupational therapist working at MD Anderson Cancer Center in the outpatient setting.
I would like to reach out to as many OTs as possible that work with clients with breast cancer and get responses to the questions below. MD Anderson Cancer Center is working hard to contribute to the American Cancer Society's first collaborative clinical care model for breast cancer rehabilitation. I am honored to represent AOTA and MD Anderson as a stakeholder in the development of this model. Currently there are only MDs and PTs sitting on the core panel so I want to assure that occupational therapists are represented as a major player in the rehabilitation of patients with breast cancer. It is critical that we establish our presence with this population during the creation of this treatment model that will be referred to nationwide as a standard of care.
We are also looking for OTs that are interested in participating in a multi-facility conference call facilitated by MD Anderson Cancer Center with our new director Brent Braveman, PhD, OTR. The first conference call will focus on the rehabilitation of patients with breast cancer but we will also be hosting calls in the future on other oncology diagnoses.
Questions to consider:
1) What do we identify as some of the functional problems and solutions for this population (specifically for women in the early phases of treatment)?
2) What is our unique role in survivorship care?
3) What solid evidence exists for our current assessments and treatments?
4) What are current issues with reimbursement and or issues to consider if a collaborative model is to go forward with treatment?
5) What new and innovative treatment ideas are other OTs doing in this area for early treatment and prevention of long term deficits?
Thank you so much for your help and service to help patients with cancer improve their quality of life!
Jennifer Hughes, OTR - MD Anderson Cancer Center jkhughes@mdanderson.org 713-792-3192