Understanding and Addressing the Psychosocial Needs of AYA Patients

Understanding and Addressing the Psychosocial Needs of AYA Patients, presented by John Salsman, Ph.D., Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

AYAs with cancer experience multiple, significant disruptions in many aspects of their lives. Anxiety, depression, and loneliness can be common experiences both during and after treatment. This session will focus on: (1) describing the prevalence of some of these common psychosocial needs and, (2) discussing strategies for providing effective support to those AYAs who most need our care. Ultimately, we hope to reduce the adverse psychosocial impact of cancer and enhance psychosocial wellbeing so that AYAs and their families can live richer, fuller lives.

Dr. Salsman is a Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine where he serves as the Associate Director of Public Health Sciences for Charlotte and the Co-Leader of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is a health psychologist by training, and his work focuses on maximizing the health-related quality of life of adolescents and young adults with cancer both during and after treatment. He does this primarily by improving measurement of patient-reported outcomes in order to amplify patient voices and through adapting and implementing behavioral interventions to foster wellbeing and reduce adverse mental and social health outcomes.