Caring for Adolescents and Young Adults Living with Cancer: Meeting their Unique Medical and Psychosocial Needs (RN and Allied Health Lecture)

Lauren Lux, LCSW

Program Director, Adolescent and Young Adult
Department of Pediatrics
UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
UNC School of Medicine
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Lecture Description

Adolescents and Young Adult living with cancer have unique medical and psychosocial needs. The recognition of these needs has created a new field of study in practice in the oncology world. As such many institutions are developing multidisciplinary teams to address AYA needs. However, you don’t need a huge budget or a new program to make an impact with this age group. We will establish the age specific needs of this group and discuss some simple changes to make in your day to day practice that will help you meet your AYA patients’ needs.

Lecture Objectives:

• Identify the unique medical and psychosocial needs of AYA cancer patients.
• Discuss institutional barriers to delivering age specific care to AYAs with cancer.
• Implement simple changes in clinical practice to improve care delivery and coordination for AYAs with cancer.