The Department of Psychological Medicine hosted the regional APPON 5 meeting in conjunction with the 3rd Academic Psychiatry Conference 2016, with a focus on the theme: Psychosocial Cancer Care, which attracted participants ranging from psychiatrists, psychologists, psycho oncologists, oncology nurses and medical social workers. The meeting was held at NUHS Tower Block Level 1 Auditorium, from 10 – 12 November 2016.
When cancer patients receive medical care, psychological stress often comes into play, as the patients and their loved ones are faced with tremendous stress living and coping with the illness. Therefore, the need for mental health and psychological counseling intervention is usually crucial in providing them with the emotional support. Hence, the APPON 5 Meeting helped to increase the awareness of the impact of cancer on family units and promoted up-skilling of medical personnel to work effectively with psychosocial concerns facing patients and families, to help improve the quality of life for these patients.