Psycho-oncology

Psycho-oncology is a field of interdisciplinary study and practice at the intersection of lifestyle, psychology and oncology. It is concerned with aspects of cancer that go beyond medical treatment and include lifestyle, psychological and social aspects of cancer. Sometimes it is also referred to as psychosocial oncology or behavioral oncology because it deals with psychosocial and behavioral topics. The field is concerned both with the effects of cancer on a person's psychological health as well as the social and behavioral factors that may affect the disease process of cancer and/or the remission of it.

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Psycho-oncology, as a subspeciality, addresses the two major psychological dimensions of cancer: the psychological responses of patients to cancer at all stages of the disease and that of their families and caretakers (called oncopsychology); and the psychological, behavioral and social factors that may influence the disease process (called psychosocial-oncology).

Psycho-oncology is an area of multi-disciplinary interest and has boundaries with the major specialities in oncology: the clinical disciplines (surgery, medicine, pediatrics, radiotherapy), epidemiology, immunology, endocrinology, biology, pathology, bioethics, palliative care, rehabilitation medicine, clinical trials research and decision making, as well as psychiatry and psychology.

The appearance of a family illness involves some changes and these in turn, involves the generation of new family needs, needs that naturally are going to be changing throughout its life cycle.

The psycho-oncology is provided the following objectives:

Early studies of psychological adjustment to cancer addressed issues of communication and management of guilt (Abrams, 1953; General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, 1950). Almost simultaneously, Arthur Sutherland in 1952 established the first unit of psychiatry oncology at the Cancer Center Memorial Sloan-Kettering (MSKCC) in New York, it has evolved to the modern Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Psycho-Oncology is a journal published by John Wiley & Sons which contains articles related to research in the field of psycho-oncology.

There is an international society, the International Psycho-Oncology Society, that is "dedicated to fostering the science of psychosocial and behavioral oncology and improving the care of cancer patients and their families throughout the world".

Pediatric psycho-oncolology is a sub-field of psychological research and practice that lies at the intersection of psycho-oncology and pediatric psychology. It is primarily concerned with improving psychosocial outcomes among children and adolescents who have been diagnosed with cancer.

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