 |  |  | | | NURSING TEENAGERS - ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2006 | | | | |
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Release Date: 1 September 2005
The Leukaemia Research annual conference 2006 will focus on the plight of teenagers and young adults with blood cancers, following a growing concern that the needs of young people as a group are less likely to be addressed than other patient sectors.
Specialist nurses who work with teenagers have done much to bridge the gap of specific care with the onset of teenager cancer units and virtual systems which cross medical-paediatric boundaries. These services, however, are hard to catch on in service development and have left many regions still catering for their teenagers through fragmented routes.
Teenagers and young adults with blood cancers may often find themselves nursed in a variety of situation; either on children’s wards or adult units. These units are not focussed on the unique skills and experience which adolescents require.
Many leading experts in adolescent care have already recognised that although childhood survival rates have increased significantly over the last 30 years, adolescent and young adults have not.
Louise Soanes, Senior Sister for Children’s Services, at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey, told us: ‘Nurses are bringing attention to teenager needs. Health care practitioners, patients and charities have done much lobbying to raise the profile of teenagers and young people with cancer but a lot more is still to be done. Access to clinical trials is still an area that needs to be addressed. Nationally, teenagers and young people with cancer, even children, are not included in the Government Cancer agenda. Cancer care should be equitable across the lifespan.’
What happens at the ward level may well be on par with what occurs in clinical research. The UKCCSG maintain the register for childhood cancer and have confirmed that an insufficient number of young people over 16 years are entered into clinical trials. Experts say that approximate 40-60 per cent of patients aged 15-19 years enter national leukaemia trials, compared with 75-90 per cent of children under 15. This shortfall still lies alongside the paucity of teenage services.
David Grant, Scientific Director at Leukaemia Research, said: ‘Our annual conference, next year, will highlight the management of teenagers in cancer care. We are proud that we have three eminent key speakers who will discuss some of the challenges we face. It is crucial that we continue to bring high quality research to the different generations that are touched by serious blood cancers. Both the medical and scientific world want to see important developments in teenage medicine so we can improve their chances of treatment and cure.’
Haematology units around the country are now recognising, it is time to address teenagers and young people and give services that other generational group benefit from.
The Leukaemia Research annual conference is on 8 April 2006 at the Moat House Hotel, York. Please call Lindsey on 0207 269 9091 to register.
This news item follows the recent edition of Nursing Leukaemia News(No.4 2005) which focussed on teenager services and may have similarities as well as new content.
Livvy Fernandes, Nursing Leukaemia Co-ordinator, Leukaemia Research
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