Dr. Meredith K. Reffner Collins

My update is a little late, but I had an absolute blast at the American Psychosocial Oncology Conference in Pittsburgh (held March 5 - 7). Not only did I present a poster based on recent research (details below), but I was fortunate to meet a lot of really excellent psychosocial oncology scholars, hear some wonderful research presentations, and get more energized than ever about our field. I was also inspired to join the APOS Research Committee after the conference. 

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On a personal note, it was also great to be back in the Steel City, see some extended family, and take in the view from Mt. Washington! Too bad it wasn't warm enough to go to Kennywood!

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​About the poster: 

The study is a (very!) collaborative effort among the members of the Section of Pediatric Population Science, Outcomes, and Disparities Research at the Rutgers Cancer Institute. We surveyed childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer survivors, their siblings, and their parents about their needs and quality of life.

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Siblings of CAYA survivors had high levels of unmet needs, and those unmet needs were statistically significantly associated with higher levels of post-traumatic stress symptoms, fear of cancer recurrence, and depressive symptoms. 

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Use the link below to download a copy of our poster and our reference list for further reading! 

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