Dateline DFCI
Patients' psychosocial needs are focus of research center
A new center a Dana-Farber is supporting and promoting research aimed at improving the psychosocial experience of adults with advanced cancer and their families.
Led by Holly Prigerson, PhD, the Center for Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care aims to foster collaborations and encourage investigations in several core areas. It will examine depression and other disorders common in cancer patients, the neurobiology of stress in the context of concern, and interventions such as psycho-therapy to enhance these patients' quality of life. In addition, the unit will focus on doctor-patient-family communications and factors influencing patients' access to (and the quality of) mental health and other services.
"We are eager to help clinicians explore ideas stimulated by their patient encounters and concerns," says Prigerson, who came to Dana-Farber from Yale Medical School and is a leading expert on bereavement adjustment. "We need to develop a critical mass of competent clinical researchers to address the unmet psychosocial needs of those facing advanced cancer."
