Expert to emphasise compassion in healthcare

MEDIA RELEASE
14 July 2009

Expert to emphasise compassion in healthcare

Internationally recognised health behavioural research leader, Laureate Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher, will speak at a Winter Workshop series for health professionals in haematology hosted by the Leukaemia & Blood Foundation (LBF) 20-22 July.

Sanson-Fisher’s work is known for successfully combining behavioural and public health approaches to health promotion, health service evaluation and cancer control.

Daily demands on health care professionals can cause burn out and lead many to focus their energies on being experts to fix a problem. Their challenge is to break from purely problem solving to helping patients change behaviours that might continue to have a negative impact on their health.

The three-day Winter Workshop series will focus on helping health care professionals working in haematology enhance their roles from highly trained technical experts to compassionate people to better meet the complex needs of today’s haematology patients.

Sanson-Fisher will facilitate thought-provoking discussions on:
• Blood cancer research,
• Breaking bad news,
• Optimal health care involving both technical and caring aspects,
• Patient satisfaction and perceived unmet needs,
• Improving patient quality of life and
• The ethical imperative for evidence-based psychosocial practice.

The LBF Support Services Team coordinate support and education groups and host an online forum for New Zealand patients and their families living with blood cancers and conditions. They also support health care professionals to foster information exchange in the haematology community.

“We are honoured to have Professor Sanson-Fisher present at our Winter Workshop series,” said Amy Munro, LBF Support Services Manager. “The aim is to bring a quality speaker to health care professionals working in haematology to encourage discussion around emerging topics.

“As we support the health care professionals who care for New Zealand’s haematology patients, we hope to help foster improved care to patients and their families.”

The LBF Winter Workshops will take place in Auckland (20 July), Palmerston North (21 July) and Christchurch (22 July) and are closed to the public.

About the LBF
The Leukaemia & Blood Foundation (LBF) is the only organisation in New Zealand dedicated to supporting patients and their families living with leukaemia, myeloma, lymphoma and related blood conditions.

The LBF Patient Support Services team has 36 contacts with patients, health professionals and general enquiries every day.

The LBF receives no government funding and are supported entirely by events, corporate sponsors, grants and donations.

Funds raised for the LBF go towards funding the core services – patient support programmes, research, information, awareness, and advocacy.

For more information about the LBF visit www.leukaemia.org.nz.

About Professor Robert Sanson-Fisher
Laureate Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher is internationally recognised as a leader in health behavioural research. His work is known for successfully combining behavioural and public health approaches to health promotion, health service evaluation and cancer control.

He has published more than 300 peer review research papers and 16 chapters in books. Rob has obtained numerous research grants, including program grants from the NHMRC and other competitive funding agencies. His current research interests are in changing health care providers’ clinical behaviour to be more aligned with best evidence practice; the development, implementation and evaluation of health service models; assessment of unmet needs of cancer patients; and attempting to improve the health outcomes for vulnerable population groups.

Laureate Professor Sanson-Fisher played a significant role in establishing the Behavioural Science Group in Relation to Medicine at the University of Newcastle. He also was the initiator of the Hunter Centre for Health Advancement and Director of the New South Wales Cancer Education Research Program. The research training and publications, which resulted from this group, have received national and international recognition.

These research achievements were recognised with the group being designated a WHO Centre of Excellence with Professor Sanson-Fisher as the director. He was the inaugural director of the National Cancer Control Institute. More recently Rob finished a four-year term as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Newcastle. In 2000 he was awarded the Hunter Medical Research Institute award for research excellence. He has been involved in the successful supervision of 54 PhD students.

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