Psychooncology in the everyday practice

Rohánszky Magda (1), Pusztafalvi Henriette (2)
– (1) Egyesített Szent István és Szent László Kórház és Rendelőintézet, Budapest
– (2) Pécsi Tudományegyetem, Egészségfejlesztési és Népegészségügyi Tanszék, Pécs

In the past 40 years the progressively growing fi eld of psychooncology has played an increasing role in the multidisciplinary practice of oncology. In this review methods for identifying and treating cancer patients’ psychological challenges will be summarized. Effective psychological interventiones will be discussed, and two methods especially devised for supporting cancer patients (Simonton Training and Mindfulness Based Cancer Recovery) will be introduced. We also deal with the communication traits that affect the doctor–patient relationship, the mental challenges that affect doctors dealing with terminally ill patients, burnout and its prophylaxis.