Dear COGNO members
Session 7 brings together 4 diverse speakers to provide an incredibly informative overview of this crucial aspect of the patient journey.
Associate Professor Kate Drummond, AM, Director of Neurosurgery at The RMH / VCCC Parkville Precinct, has extensive research and clinical interests in the biology and clinical management of brain tumours. She serves on the committees of a number of national cancer and brain tumour groups and supports community groups and charities advocating for patients with brain tumours and their families and has published extensively, amongst many other areas, regarding health-related quality of life in glioma and meningioma survivors.
Dr Anthoulla Mohamudally is a senior staff specialist, Palliative Care within the Northern Sydney Local Health District, Royal North Shore Hospital. Royal North Shore Hospital cares for and manages a higher volume of primary brain tumour patients than usual. Dr Mohamudally has been involved in the development and delivery of online resources for those providing palliative care and community support for glioma patients and their families, with a focus on improving quality of life through palliative care.
Associate Professor Andrew Cole has been a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine and conjoint academic with University of New South Wales Faculty of Medicine since 1985 and is currently the Chief Medical Officer of Hammond Care, Greenwich Hospital. His particular interests lie in providing rehabilitation care to cancer survivors, having done extensive research into the “effectiveness of cancer rehabilitation”, including brain tumour patients and very frail older people, including those with dementia, in the most appropriate environments for them. Dr Cole was prominent in the opening of Australasia’s first ever specifically-dedicated cancer rehabilitation ward, The Jacaranda Ward, which is located at Hammond Care’s Greenwich Hospital.
The final presenter will be Ms Dianne Legge, Brain Tumour Support Coordinator from the ONJ Cancer Centre, Austin Health Victoria. Ms Legge will speak about the importance of involving patients and care-givers in the process of co-design. She was a member of the Steering Committee for the BTAA project “Supporting People with a Brain Tumour” developing new resources for patients and family and has developed self-management resources to assist patients in management of fatigue and other symptoms commonly adversely impacting QOL in brain tumour.