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A Virtual Wellness Program to Enhance Well-being for Pediatric Oncology Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Full text linkIn response to the COVID-19 global health crisis and mandated social isolation, Pediatric leadership at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital was concerned for the psychological impact on its workforce and encouraged wellness programming. A grassroots wellness taskforce was assembled for the Division of Pediatrics. The task force’s primary mission was to promote the well-being of clinicians and non-clinical staff members through a broadly accessible, sustainable, and effective virtual wellness program. Guided by the Stanford Model for Professional Fulfillment, a virtual program entitled, “Weekly Wellness Webex” for Pediatrics staff was launched. Weekly Wellness Webex is a 1-hour live-streamed program with varied thematic content promoting personal resilience through healthy behaviors and self-care such as mindfulness, nutrition and exercise, and a culture of wellness through games, group art projects, and activities that highlighted diversity and inclusion. The program was evaluated and modified based on data collected from a confidential electronic evaluation program sent to the staff at three separate timepoints over 18 months. We performed descriptive statistical analyses and used manual coding to analyze the free-text qualitative data received from the evaluations.
Sixty-nine program sessions and 3 participant evaluations were conducted between March 2020 and September 2021. Of 300 total staff, 114 participated in the wellness program representing 38% of the Division of Pediatrics. In addition, 125 (41.6%) completed a survey. Most participants found the program helpful (84% on the first evaluation and 100% on the 2nd and 3rd evaluations) and 69.4% (95% CI 62.9-75.9%) experienced decreased COVID-19-related distress after attending the program. The mean decrease in distress after participation in the wellness program was 1.67 (SD 2.2) on a 10-point scale. On the quantitative and qualitative analysis, improved personal well-being and increased social connections emerged as the main program benefits.
This virtual wellness program successfully decreased COVID-19 related distress and was perceived as helpful to pediatric oncology healthcare staff. Participants of the program endorsed increased social connectivity, improved well-being, and decreased distress. This program was successfully implemented during the pandemic and has been sustained
Adverse Effects of Acalabrutinib and its Management in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Patients
No full texthttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/aprn-week-25/1004/thumbnail.jp
Enhancing Primary Care Utilization Among Cancer Survivors Treated at a Large, Academic Cancer Center: A Quality Improvement Initiative
No full texthttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/edwk25/1009/thumbnail.jp
Kurt R. Weiss
No full textDr. Kurt R. Weiss is an associate professor in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Musculoskeletal Oncology. He has joint appointments in Surgical Oncology and Pathology. He serves as an Advisory Dean for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and as Vice Chair of Translational Research for his Department. His research career began as an undergraduate student at Notre Dame when he worked in the Ferguson Laboratory with Dr. Christopher Evans. During medical school at Jefferson Medical College, he performed a summer research internship with Dr. Eugenie Kleinerman at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Between his second and third years of medical school he participated in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute/National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program where he worked in Dr. Lee Helman’s Laboratory in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Pediatric Oncology Branch. During residency he performed original osteosarcoma research during his lab year with Dr. Johnny Huard. After his fellowship in Musculoskeletal Oncology at the University of Toronto with Drs. Jay Wunder and Peter Ferguson, Dr. Weiss was recruited back to Pittsburgh by his Chairman, Dr. Freddie Fu, as faculty and started his own Lab.
The Musculoskeletal Oncology Laboratory (MOL) is focused on sarcoma metastatic potential. Dr. Weiss’s team of PhD collaborators, residents, medical students, undergraduate students, and technicians perform basic and translational sarcoma research experiments. Much of this work is accomplished with samples from the Musculoskeletal Oncology Tumor Registry and Tissue Bank (MOTOR) that Dr. Weiss and his clinical partners established in 2012. The MOTOR now holds over 16,000 unique samples from over 600 sarcoma patients with clinical annotation, making it one of the largest sarcoma tissue repositories in the country. This resource provides vital biological reagents for both intramural and extramural sarcoma investigators who collaborate with the MOL.
Dr. Weiss is an author on over 80 peer-reviewed publications. He recently finished his term as Research Committee Chair for the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society, the largest professional society for musculoskeletal oncology surgeons on the continent of North America. He is on the Mentorship Committee for the Connective Tissue Oncology Society, for which he has also served on the Board of Directors. He was recently named to the Scientific Steering Committee of the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through Collaboration (SARC), the largest private supporter of sarcoma clinical trials in the world. He has taught at the Orthopedic Research Society grant writing course for many years. Dr. Weiss is a regular reviewer for NCI grant applications and was on the inaugural Programmatic Panel for the Department of Defense Rare Cancers Research Program. His funding sources have included K08 and R21 awards from the NCI as well as the support of numerous foundations including the Orthopedic Research and Education Foundation and the Connective Tissue Oncology Society. Dr. Weiss is a founding member of the Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma (PCS) patient advocacy group, as well as the Pittsburgh Sarcoma Research Collaborative (PSaRC).https://openworks.mdanderson.org/kleinermanbios/1004/thumbnail.jp
The Candy Store is Empty
Full text linkA poem in honor of the late Cullen M. Taniguchi, MD, PhD, an esteemed radiation oncologist, physician-scientist, and beloved mentor who died unexpectedly in November 2023 at 47 years of age
A Tobacco Treatment Training Program Expands the Number of Healthcare Providers Trained to Use Evidence-Based Practices and Methods
Full text linkTobacco-use disorder remains a global health challenge, despite declining rates, and is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, especially among special populations that disproportionally do not have access to comprehensive treatment services. The lack of trained providers and slow dissemination of new tobacco treatment knowledge are obstacles to accessing comprehensive evidence-based treatments. Less is known about the impact of specialized training programs on healthcare professionals\u27 ability to effectively treat tobacco use. This paper reports on the evaluation of the tobacco treatment training program, training methodology, and the demographics of the specialists trained.
MD Anderson’s Tobacco Treatment Training Program (TTTP) trained 1,155 professionals from 2017 to 2023. Of those, 1,052 (91%) successfully completed the course as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) after passing the exam. Our trainees\u27 knowledge and skills significantly increased from 60.3% (pre) versus 95.8% (post), —a 59% increase. A majority (73%) had spent less than one year as a tobacco-treatment professional prior to taking the course, indicating crucial training early in TTS career. Changing the training delivery modality to virtual in 2020, showed a 30% increase in participants outside of Texas.
Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) contracts with MD Anderson to train their tobacco quitline call center staff exclusively. Over a five-year period, MD Anderson trained 394 professionals in Arkansas. In 2018 when MD Anderson first initiated the contract, Arkansas quit rates were 28%. In 2023, Arkansas quit rates were 34% and increased when patients attended multiple counseling calls.
Given the ever-changing landscape and regulation of tobacco products, healthcare systems and cancer centers have an obligation to equip their practitioners with evidence-based knowledge and skills required to treat tobacco and nicotine addiction. MD Anderson\u27s TTTP constitutes a valuable resource for providers treating individuals seeking assistance in quitting.
Library News May 2025
Full text linkCall for Submissions: Share Your Work in MD Anderson\u27s Scholarly Journal Help with Spoken English Is Available Through the Library The Importance of and Types of Corrections in the Literature 2025 Summer Reading Recommendations A Quick Guide to Using or Without Errorhttps://openworks.mdanderson.org/rmlnews25/1004/thumbnail.jp
