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SCMP Reporter

AN expanded patient resource centre and a special pain management team within Queen Mary Hospital's new cancer centre aims to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families.

  With the support of the Hong Kong Cancer Fund, the hospital set up the first Cancer Patient Resource Centre in Hong Kong two years ago.

  The resource centre has so far proved to be a great success and, in April this year, the centre became part of the formal hospital structure.

  But with the formation of the new cancer centre, the resource centre will be re-named the Cancer Patient Resource Unit, while its services will be improved and its activities expanded.

  Hospital chief executive Dr Vivian Wong Taam Chi-woon said every patient was an individual with a different psychological reaction to their illness.

  'Each one has a different background and social support network which will influence the attitude towards his or her treatment,' she said.

  Other than the treatment itself, the cancer centre offers a range of services to help patients in the rehabilitation process and to deal with their emotions and thoughts during and after treatment.

  Through the services of the clinical psychologists and medical social workers, the centre gives moral support to patients and their families and helps them to actively participate in the treatment and rehabilitation process.

  'These activities not only strengthen stress management techniques but serve to strengthen family support through opening up communication channels,' Dr Wong said.

  The centre provides patients and their relatives with information on the common cancers and self-care during cancer treatment in the form of booklets and audio-visual material.

  Cancer patients who have been cured share their experiences with newly diagnosed patients at organised meetings, while there is also a cancer hotline, volunteer visits as well as cancer patient self-help groups.

  The New Voice Club and the Stoma Association are two of the more long-standing groups formed at Queen Mary Hospital.

  'As well as the development of the unit, the cancer centre will strengthen its psychosocial support for patients throughout the course of their rehabilitation,' Dr Wong said.

  Trained voluntary workers and patient support groups will complement the efforts of the clinical team to help patients and their families develop a realistic expectation of the outcome of treatment and to adapt to any changes in lifestyle or any disability.

  Under the hospital's business plan for 1994-95, the centre will provide a special hospice service with a focus on palliative medicine and pain management, with a pain control team and stoma nurses.

  'The concept of total care cannot be achieved without the control of pain, as pain is the most common complaint in cancer patients,' Dr Wong said.

  Pain distracts the patient from leading a positive life and so a multi-disciplinary pain control team has been set up as part of the cancer centre.

  The team is made up of consultants from anaesthesiology, radiology, oncology, psychiatry, medicine, surgery and orthopeadic surgery.

  'The whole idea is to improve the quality of life for patients both during and after treatment and, with the expansion of the patient resource centre.

     we should be in a better position to do this,' Dr Wong said.



Team of specialists helps manage the pain barrier