Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully: An Evidence-Based Intervention for Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers/Gary Rodin

Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully provides valuable insight into the experience of patients and families living with advanced cancer and describes a novel psychotherapeutic approach to help them live meaningfully, while also facing the threat of mortality. Managing Cancer and Living Meaningfully, also known by the acronym CALM, is a brief supportive-expressive intervention that can be delivered by a wide range of trained healthcare providers as part of cancer care or early palliative care. The authors provide an overview of the clinical experience and research that led to the development of CALM, a clear description of the intervention, and a manualized guide to aid in its delivery. Situated in the context of early palliative care, this text is destined to be become essential reading for healthcare professionals engaged in providing psychological support to patients and their families who face the practical and profound problems of advanced disease. About author(s): Gary Rodin , MD, is a University of Toronto/University Health Network Chair in Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Director of the Global Institute of Psychosocial, Palliative and End-of-Life Care (GIPPEC), and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He leads a clinical and research program on the psychosocial dimensions of advanced disease and on the development and evaluation of novel interventions to improve the quality of life and the quality of dying and death in this population. Sarah Hales, MD, is a psychiatrist and researcher in the Division of Psychosocial Oncology at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network in Toronto and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Her clinical and research interests include the end of life experience as it affects both patients and their family members, and psychotherapeutic interventions aimed at alleviating distress in those facing advanced disease.