Palliative Care

Description/Mission Statement

The mission of the Palliative Care SIG is two-fold:

First, we want to advance knowledge about the psychosocial, spiritual, and symptom management needs of patients with serious, life limiting illness – which include diagnoses such as cancer, heart disease, pulmonary disease, and neurological and neuromuscular disorders - and their family members.

Second, in our commitment to enhancing patient and family quality of life, we will promote prevention, intervention, treatment, and education initiatives to address patient, caregiver, and family needs.

There is an increasing demand for palliative care services, as well as increasing funding mechanisms devoted to palliative care research. However, palliative care populations pose unique challenges with regard to conducting research, providing clinical care, and training clinicians and researchers. This SIG provides a home for SBM members from a variety of disciplines who are interested in a behavioral perspective to palliative care.  

The Palliative Care SIG serves as a forum for:

• fostering interdisciplinary communication and community among researchers and clinicians working with palliative care populations;
• promoting high-quality, collaborative palliative care research;
• enhancing the professional development of researchers and clinicians through education and mentoring;
• working with other professional organizations involved in palliative care research;
• working with pre-doctoral internship and other training programs that include a focus in palliative care.

 

Steering Committee Members:

• Eric Anderson, PhD
• Karena Leo, PhD
• Meagan Whisenant, PhD, APRN
• Juliet Kroll, PhD
• Laura Porter, PhD
• Katherine Ramos, PhD
• James Gerhart, PhD
• Sean O’Mahony, MD

 

 

Opportunities to Engage with the Palliative Care SIG

1. Join the SIG roster or to be added or removed from the listserv: Log in to the Members Only section of the SBM website, click My Profile, and then edit the SIG section under the Professional tab. If you have questions or difficulty, email info@sbm.org.
2. Join the Steering Committee to get more involved with the SIG and network with your peers and mentors.
3. Add your information to the SIG Directory.
4. Look for list serve announcements for opportunities to lead and/or participate in SIG activities.
5. Write an Outlook article or Healthy Living article relevant to palliative care.
6. Share this video with others so they can learn more about the PC SIG.
    

Social Media

Follow our SIG on Twitter: @SBMPalliative
 

Works in Progress Meetings

These meetings occur once-twice/month and provide the opportunity for SIG members to receive feedback on scholarly activities. All members are welcome to attend. Contact Dr. Catherine Mosher (cemosher@iupui.edu) for more information.

 

SIG History

The Palliative Care SIG was approved by the SBM Executive Council in 2019 as a SIG-in-formation. We received full SIG status as of October, 2020. Laura Porter, PhD and Katherine Ramos, PhD founded the SIG and served as Co-Chairs from 2020-2023. A new SIG Chair will be elected in September 2023.
 

Awards

The Palliative Care SIG currently offers an award for Outstanding Palliative Care abstract.

Award recipients include:

2021: Lisa Quintiliani, PhD “Content analysis of video declarations of advance care planning preferences by patients with advanced cancer”
2022: Jacqueline H. J. Kim, PhD “Supportive care needs for Asian Americans with metastatic cancer: Health care professionals' perspectives”
2023: Veena Manja, PhD “Cultural Dissonance and Moral Distress among Multicultural Practitioners caring for South Asian Breast Cancer Patients”
 

Outlook articles written by PC SIG members

2022: Tips for Finding and Working with a Mentor as a Trainee and Early Career Researcher.
2021: A Spotlight on Palliative Care Research.
2020: Interested in Behavioral Medicine and Palliative Care? A ‘How-To’ for Getting Started.
2019: Opportunities for Psychologists and Behavioral Scientists in Palliative Care.
 

Additional PC SIG Publications

Gerhart, J., Ramos, K.R., Porter, L.S., Ravyts, S., Malhotra, S., Mossman, B., England, A. E., Alonzi, S., Peyser, T., Kim, S., O’Mahony, S., Burns, J. W., Hoerger, M. (2023). Top 10 Tips Palliative Care Clinicians Should Know about Behavioral Management of Pain. Journal of Palliative Medicine. 26(7):992-998.

Hoerger, M., Ramos, K., Ellington, L., Perry, L. M., Pollak, K. I., & Porter, L. S. (2019). Organizing psychologists, behavioral scientists, and allied professionals: Formation of the Society of Behavioral Medicine’s Palliative Care Special Interest Group. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 58(4): E10-11
 

PC SIG Webinars

Couple communication in cancer: Novel approaches to examining process and mechanisms (July 28, 2020); Speakers: Shelby Langer, Joan Romano, Laura Porter, & Katherine Ramos; Collaborating SIGs: Cancer

Clinical and Research Training Opportunities in Palliative Care (November 5, 2020); Speakers: Katherine Ramos, Kimberly Hiroto, Sean O’Mahoney, Michael Hoerger, and Laura Porter (moderator); in collaboration with ETCD