Distress Screening and Management in an Outpatient VA Cancer Clinic: A Pilot Project Involving Ambulatory Patients Across the Disease Trajectory

Jennifer Smith; Susan Berman; Jennifer Dimick; Sonya Curry; Lisa Arfons; Brian Cmolik; Robert Savinell; Kauzy Woods; Julie R Price; Polly Mazanec

Distress Screening and Management in an Outpatient VA Cancer Clinic: A Pilot Project Involving Ambulatory Patients Across the Disease Trajectory

Fed Pract. 2017 Feb;34(Suppl 1):43S-50S.

Authors

Affiliation

¹ and are co-directors of the Transforming and Integrating Medical and Surgical Expertise: Patient-Centered Specialty Care Education Center of Excellence at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VAMC (LSCVAMC) in Ohio. is a clinical psychologist; is an oncology social worker; is a clinical nurse specialist; is a registered nurse; is a program analyst; and Ms. Smith is a survivorship nurse practitioner; all at LSCVAMC. is the chief of the pain psychology service at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. is a research assistant professor and Ms. Smith is on the clinical faculty at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Arfons is a medical oncologist and the director of hematology/oncology at LSCVAMC and assistant professor at the CWRU School of Medicine. Dr. Cmolik is also a cardiothoracic surgeon and chief of surgery at LSCVAMC.

PMID: 30766300
PMCID: PMC6375424

Abstract

Screening all patients for distress addressed practical, psychosocial, physical, and spiritual needs does not seem to be burdensome for patients or providers at an outpatient cancer center.