Psychology calls for a specialty for cancer and palliatives

The field of Psychology unites and demands that it be implemented “as soon as possible” the specialty of Psycho-oncology and Palliative Psychology. According to a statement from the General Council of Official Colleges of Psychologists (COP), the need to do so is due to the incidence of cancer and advanced diseases in the population. “We all have the right to receive comprehensive care that includes a specialized and quality approach to psychological aspects for patients, family members and caregivers,” he added.

This is a claim to which patient and family associations and scientific and professional societies have joined together during the celebration of the conference ‘Psychological care specialized in cancer and end of life: a right for everyone’, organized by the Promotion Commission of the Specialty of Psycho-oncology and Palliative Care of the General Council of Psychology and the Official College of the Psychology of Madrid.

The specialty of Psycho-oncology and Palliative Psychology is about a sought-after specialty, not only by the main scientific societies in this field such as the Spanish Society of Psycho-oncology (SEPO), the Spanish Society of Palliative Care (Secpal) and the Spanish Society of Pediatric Palliative Care (Pedpal), but also by other organizations such as SEOR, SEHH, Sepcys, SEAS, SEMP, Sepis, etc.; patient and family groups and associations (AECC, GEPAC, Fepnc, FC ELA MV, etc.); programs and entities to support care and research in these areas (Fundación “La Caixa”, Fefoc), research groups of recognized prestige (Grupo Atlantes, Red Eol) or the university environment (Conference of Deans of the Faculties of Psychology of Spain), among others.

Implementation in the National Health System

At the inauguration of this day, Francisco Santolaya, president of the General Council of Psychology of Spain, and Mercedes Navío Acosta, Hospital Care Manager in the Madrid Health Service, highlighted “the need for the implementation of said specialty in the National System of Health (SNS)”, taking into account the deep development and specialization of the different areas of Psychology and, especially, the advance of Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Psychology in recent decades, according to the COP statement.

The coordinator of the Promotion Commission of the Specialty of Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Psychology, president of the Association of Psycho-Oncology of Madrid and director of the Master’s Degree in Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Care of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), Juan Antonio Cruzado, spoke at the conference the current situation of this area, its development at a scientific level and how “at the moment no training formula meets training needs of the professionals dedicated to this area, nor are there any possibilities other than a specific PIR training program, accompanied by an approval process for professionals dedicated to these areas in the same terms as RD 2490/1998, of November 20, creation of the specialty in Clinical Psychology.”

Furthermore, he has stood out as “Three decades have passed since the creation of the only specialty of Psychology in Spain, compared to the current around 50 in Medicine, 7 in Nursing or 5 in Pharmacy.” Finally, he presented a manifesto of 14 essential points about this specialty and its need in caring for patients, family members and loved ones. “The specialty meets with all the requirements indicated in RD 589/2022, of July 19, which regulates the procedure and criteria for the proposal of a new specialist title in Health Sciences, among others,” he assured.

Support from patients and scientists

After his intervention, the first table which has been represented by prominent patient and family rights advocacy groups, both in the field of care for adults and children. The president of the Spanish Group of Cancer Patients (Gepac), Begoña Barragán García, participated; the president of the Spanish Patients Forum (FEP), Andoni Lorenzo Garmendia; the member of the Advisory Council of the Spanish Federation of Parents of Children with Cancer, Francisco Palazón Espinosa, and the coordinator of the Pedpal Peer Support Group, Matilde Pérez Herranz. They have all agreed on “the demand by affected people for a specialized profile in Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Psychology that satisfies the care needs in this area in this population” and that “the Ministry of Health echoes this”since in most cases the patient and family support entities themselves are the ones that are providing this service in the absence of specific resources from the public system.

The second table has had the president of the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) and head of section of the Medical Oncology Service of the University Clinical Hospital of Salamanca, César Rodríguez Sánchez; the president of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) and head of the Radiation Oncology service at HM Sanchinarro University Hospital (Madrid) and Puerta del Sur (Móstoles), Carmen Rubio Rodríguez; the president of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care (Secpal) and assistant in the Medical Oncology Service of the Hospital
University of Fuenlabrada, Elia Martínez Moreno; and the member of the Board of Directors of the Society of Hematotherapy and Hematology (SEHH) and specialist in Hematology at the Marqués de Valdecilla Hospital
(Santander), Lucrecia Yáñez San Segundo.

Like patient associations, the main scientific societies openly supported the demand for this specialty, considering it “essential for quality care by the system”, and for what they have highlighted “specialized psychological treatment should be integrated into usual care of all people affected by cancer as an element of quality care in oncology, continuously from the first moment of cancer diagnosis, and also in situations at the end of life – also in non-oncological disease – and survival or grieving of their families, as well as support for other professionals. At the same time, they highlighted how those who train in this new specialty should do so mainly within said Services in order to acquire the necessary skills for the development of the interdisciplinary approach essential in said care.

Three of the four companies mentioned They already support and sign the creation proposal document of this specialty. Furthermore, the president of the SEOM has shown his commitment to sign it in this forum.

Cancer incidence

Cancer is the main socio-health problem worldwide, it is estimated that, in Spain, in 2023 alone, more than 280,000 people were diagnosed with cancer, according to data from the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC). Furthermore, and according to statistics, by 2030 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will have cancer, the head of Institutional Relations and Political Agenda of the AECC, Lucía Aboud Oizerovich, revealed in the last table.

The AECC today has more than 320 specialized psycho-oncologists, who work in the 52 provinces and last year served almost 50,000 patients and family members in their psycho-oncological care services. For the AECC, “having this specialty is basic, as well as providing equitable access to this professional figure throughout the State.”

At the same table, the coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Psycho-Oncology and Palliative Care at the UCM, Celia Ibáñez del Prado, assured that it is “a necessary training that can only be satisfied with its own specialty, the university being the support in prior and continuous training of said professionals”, according to the COP.

The day was closed by José Antonio Luengo, dean of the COP of Madrid, and by the Commissioner of Mental Health of the Ministry of Health, Belén González Callado, who referred the commitment of the Ministry with care in the fields of Oncology and Palliative Care.