Aniek Willems, AvL staff advisor, started off with a welcome to everyone followed by a presentation by Jeroen van Moorselaar, the new chairman of the Dutch Prostate Cancer Network (PKNW), who is taking over from Harrie Beerlage.
Jeroen took the attendees through the origins of the PKNW, current developments and accomplishments, finishing with a look ahead to the future. "We are a prime example of OncoNoVo+," he exclaimed proudly, referring to the new oncology network including all thirteen hospitals in the North Holland/Flevoland region. He also referred to the promotion of Hans Veerman a week earlier, the first PhD student from both Amsterdam UMC and AvL, as a sign of regional cooperation.
Then Bert van Rixtel spoke about Positive Health, a concept where the quality of life is the center of attention. Van Rixtel has been a Nurse Specialist focusing on urological oncology since 2006. In 2017, he was inspired by lectures by Machteld Huber about the concept of Positive Health at the Jeroen Bosch Hospital. Bert began applying this concept during his own consultations with patients and now gives workshops and lectures about Positive Health along with tips and tools to use in daily care.
After enjoying the warm day and an outdoor picnic lunch, Michiel Greidanus, a post-doctoral researcher Amsterdam UMC, spoke about cancer and occupation. He began the presentation with a question: 1:6, what does that stand for? It turns out that 1 in 6 colleagues are affected by cancer.
It is important to realize that many cancer patients would like to continue working, said Michiel, but the general public perception is not supportive of this. A common misconception is that people with cancer should not work, but focus on “beating” their illness instead. However, work gives meaning to many people and can be a positive influence for people with cancer.
Parallel sessions followed with an interactive presentation by researcher Myrthe Joosten about exercise as part of prostate cancer care. The group was put to work mapping the process and indications around exercise for patients in the network.
The final speaker, Leonore Biegstraaten of the NFK, with additions from Marjolein Grootes of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, gave a presentation on the results of a patient-reported experience measure (PREM) that rated the care received within the PKNW. With an average of 9.0, it was a rating we as a network can be very proud of.
After a short recap by Jolien van Kesteren, AvL Nurse Specialist, we concluded the interesting and instructive day with drinks and a tasty dinner in the meadow. Attendees left satiated with interesting information, new ideas, and networking contacts.
For more information contact Aniek Willems.
Funding
We thank Ipsen and Bayer for the financial support that made this symposium possible for the second time.