Two upcoming NASW Lunchtime Teleconference series will focus on social workers improving their cancer-care skills for clients.

Members and nonmembers can register now to listen in on a live teleconference at 1 p.m. E.T. July 30.

The first teleconference is entitled "Recognizing and Supporting Cancer-Related Anxiety and Depression." The teleconference will also become available for later review via a transcript and audio download. Members can earn 1.0 continuing education units upon successful completion of an online test following the teleconference. Nonmembers will not be eligible to earn CEUs.

The teleconference will examine the way a cancer diagnosis can affect a person and a family. One in two men and one in three women experience cancer in their lifetime. Social workers play an important role in supporting people living with cancer. Their skills in this area are vital considering the prevalence of cancer coupled with a health workforce shortage, which oftentimes threaten the ability to provide timely access to cancer services.

The teleconference will help social workers gain cancer-specific knowledge and skills to assist clients. It will describe a competency-based approach to strengthen those skills for social work students and practicing professionals and will examine the assessment and support of coping skills for cancer-related anxiety and depression.

Some of the objectives include:

• Recognizing the signs and symptoms of anxiety and depression.
• Explaining the management of depression and anxiety in patients with cancer.
• Explaining useful coping mechanisms after a cancer diagnosis.

Speakers for the teleconference will be Margaret Christopher, an associate professor at California University of Pennsylvania; and Sabrina Tyrus, project associate at C-Change, an organization that works to leverage the leadership and expertise of all sectors of society to eliminate cancer as a major public health problem at the earliest possible time.

Another Lunchtime Teleconference entitled "Strengthening the Cancer Knowledge and Skills of the Social Work Labor Force," is scheduled for sometime in the fall. Check the NASW Lunchtime Teleconference Web site for the latest updates.

The teleconferences are a further step in NASW's participation in improving cancer care for clients. NASW has been a partner with C-Change and helped produce the Cancer Patient Navigation Toolkit.

The NASW Lunchtime Teleconference series is a monthly hour-long event. The Lunchtime series highlights the latest social work issues being addressed by NASW.

Besides a live teleconference, members can access the transcripts and audio/podcast component of the teleconference any time through the Website.