It’s difficult to ignore the increase in rates of cancer diagnosis, and clinicians often feel overwhelmed as to their role in supporting this patient group. Tabitha’s informative presentation will cover the clinical nuances involved when working with cancer patients, outlining ways in which an integrative and patient-centred approach can enhance clinical outcomes, and how constructive prescriptions can function as a valuable part of the cancer patient’s overall healthcare plan.
Tabitha will explore some of the chronic nutritional, lifestyle and environmental factors seen in clinical practice, which she refers to as the modern immune burden that challenges the overall clinical outcome for this patient group. She will also outline the foundations of addressing these challenges in a practical way. Tabitha’s talk will ultimately enhance your clinical expertise and confidence, as she will highlight evidence-based strategies for improving clinical outcomes and quality of life for this ever-growing and complex patient group.
Key Learning Objectives:
Nutrition and support for patients with breast, ovarian and prostate cancer has primarily been focused on malnutrition and not the health of the person. Moreover, supplementation during treatment is controversial, however, research has supported certain supplements to assist patients through their treatment that doesn’t have interactions.
This talk will summarise the nutritional and naturopathic support for patients undergoing chemotherapy, immunotherapy and anti-hormone treatment for breast, ovarian and prostate cancer and will give you practical advice on how to support your patients through treatment.Supporting the cancer patient can be a daunting and exhausting challenge for both patient and practitioner. But does it have to be this way?
In this presentation, Robert will bring the knowledge and experience he has gained from four decades of clinical experience to give you a truly Naturopathic slant on cancer care. Using both published and clinical evidence, this session is aimed at empowering the practitioner to confidently support a patient during their cancer journey. Most importantly it will provide a practical framework to ensure every practitioner has the confidence to enhance a cancer patient’s potential outcome.
When it comes to caring for our littlest community members, unique challenges arise that require special skills and compassion from the treatment team. During this presentation, Vivian will give an outline of common oncology diagnoses in children, along with standard treatment protocols and their side effects that may have an impact on feeding behaviour.
Vivian will also cover the unique nutritional challenges in paediatric patients and discuss frequently used enteral feeding options, as well as short and long term implications of such approaches. There is an increased demand from parents for the use of blenderised diets over processed hospital formulas – Vivian will discuss the applications and the risks involved, nutritional interventions to support the child’s growth and development, as well as practical advice on how to support the parent and caregivers.
This workshop is specifically focused on the importance of integrating elements of trauma informed practice into your work. Trauma-informed care is a framework for human service delivery that is based on knowledge and understanding of how trauma affects people's lives, their health, their medical service needs, and service usage.
Traumatic events and adverse childhood experiences can make people prone to chronic physical and mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as chronic endocrine and immune system conditions. This means many of the clients seeking support who suffer from conditions such as arthritis, gut and digestive issues, diabetes, some cancers, and heart disease may well have experienced trauma in their lives.
In this session Sue will explore the concepts of trauma informed practice and how this can be applied at a practical level in your work, as well as the importance of practitioner self-care when looking after patients with a trauma background.
A Radical Remission is a cancer remission that occurs either without conventional medical treatment after conventional treatment has failed to work, or when conventional and complementary methods are used in conjunction to overcome a dire prognosis.
In this session, Karla Mans Giroux, Co-Director of the Radical Remission Project, will share the findings of Dr Kelly Turner’s Radical Remission Research and the independent studies that support it. They will provide an overview of each of the 10 factors and an in-depth explanation of one of the factors, Having Strong Reasons for Living, including an inspiring survivor story.
When a patient with cancer presents with advanced disease, their clinical needs and expectations differ significantly compared to someone with an early stage diagnosis. These patients may have limited treatment options, often with poorer success rates, their emotions and stress levels are running high and they may be in pain from tumour burden or previous treatment side effects.
As complementary medicine practitioners, our role changes from acute treatment support and optimal health management to a role that also demands significant patient advocacy. With many years of experience in various patient advocacy roles, Tanya will discuss what to consider when supporting vulnerable patients, how to support them in learning to navigate the system, and accurately outline their rights within the public and private medical systems. Tanya has coached many Practitioners to navigate this space over the years, as it can be difficult to appreciate what a profoundly positive impact we can make in these situations. Practical advice will include symptom management during the management of metastatic disease and palliation, conventional and complementary therapies for pain management, as well as minimally invasive additional therapies that can significantly improve quality of life. And finally, what is our role as the supportive practitioner, where do our boundaries lie, and how do we define success in caring for a group of patients at their most vulnerable.
Fatigue is one of the most common reasons patients with a cancer diagnosis will initially seek complementary medicine and integrative oncology support. It's also the reason for many of the specialist and allied health referrals to clinical practice.
Up to 75% of post-treatment cancer survivors experience negative health-related consequences, the most common of which is fatigue. These symptoms are distressing, unrelenting and substantially impact a cancer survivor’s physical, emotional and psychological functioning. These late effects of treatment, ongoing symptoms, survivorship care and self-management give cancer survivors specific emotional and physical needs.
In this presentation, you will learn how to confidently and effectively support your patients to achieve renewed energy and vitality, while also empowering them to take self-care steps to not only improve their energy levels but to also improve their overall health outcomes.
In this presentation, Kerry will explore in detail the key considerations behind the appropriate and effective use of herbs in patients undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. The information provided is based on a comprehensive review of the literature from mainstream journals and, while being highly evidence-based, is also filtered through the prism of the Functional Herbal Therapy system.
Topics covered will include: