title: 2015 President's Plenary International Psycho-oncology Society: psychosocial care as a human rights issue-challenges and opportunities.
abstract: The International Psycho-Oncology Society (IPOS) Human Rights Task Force has been working since 2008 to raise awareness and support, for the relevance of psychosocial cancer care as a human rights issue. In 2014 the "Lisbon Declaration: Psychosocial Cancer Care as a Universal Human Right" was fully endorsed by IPOS. Subsequently, the IPOS Standard on Quality Cancer Care, endorsed by 75 cancer organizations worldwide, has been updated and now includes 3 core principles: Psychosocial cancer care should be recognised as a universal human right; Quality cancer care must integrate the psychosocial domain into routine care; Distress should be measured as the 6th vital sign. The President's plenary held at the 2015 World Congress of Psycho-Oncology in Washington DC was devoted to discussing psychosocial care as a human rights issue. Many challenges and opportunities are illustrated in different continents and contexts: from Africa where resources for basic cancer treatment are scarce and children and their parents face significant difficulties with hospital detention practices; to Europe where for many countries psychosocial care is still seen as a luxury; and the Middle East where Muslim women face stigma and a culture of silence over cancer. We further discuss how to move the Lisbon Declaration forward towards its implementation into clinical practice globally, using the successful example of the World Health Assembly resolution supporting palliative care as a human right which has achieved widespread approval, and identifying the vital role the IPOS Federation of National Psychoncology Societies plays worldwide to move this agenda forward.
authors.affiliation: Psycho-oncology Service, Clinical Center of the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luzia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Travado
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Breitbart
authors.affiliation: Unit of Clinical Psychiatry, Department of Biomedical and Speciality Surgical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry and Palliative Care Center, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.affiliation: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patenaude
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Oncology, Assuta Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Lea
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baider
authors.affiliation: Worldwide Hospice Palliative Care Alliance, London, UK.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Connor
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fingeret
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D000073320:Psycho-Oncology / Q000458:organization & administration; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000592:standards*; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards
keywords: human rights; psycho-oncology; psychosocial cancer care; standards of cancer care