Overview

COSA has developed updated Guidelines for the psychosocial management of AYAs diagnosed with cancer in partnership with the Behavioural Sciences Unit at UNSW Sydney with funding facilitated by Canteen, as part of the Youth Cancer Services program funded by the Australian Government.

Details on this project

These guidelines will replace the guidance for healthcare professionals titled Psychosocial management of AYAs diagnosed with cancer, published by COSA in 2012.

The updated guidelines provide evidence-based recommendations and good practice statements to assist healthcare professionals in recognising and meeting the particular psychosocial needs of AYAs with cancer in Australia.

They provide psychosocial information on the following key areas for AYAs with cancer:

- Recommendations for delivering health care
- Recommendations for clinical management
- Recommendations for acute psychosocial care
- Recommendations for post-acute psychosocial care
- Recommendations for treatment and side effects
- Recommendations for enhancing well-being
- Recommendations for life outside cancer
- Recommendations for relationships
- Recommendations for progressive and incurable cancer

Public consultation

COSA is pleased to announce that the Draft Guidelines for Psychosocial Management of AYAs Diagnosed with Cancer are open for public consultation until 18 October 2024.

We encourage you and your colleagues to review these draft guidelines. If you wish to make a comment, please email the responsible COSA Project Manager: [email protected]   

When submitting a comment, please clearly identify the relevant section and sub-heading or paragraph. Give as much detail as possible, for example:

- If you have identified any gaps or errors in the content, please suggest suitable text for inclusion.
- If you have comments on the language and/or terminology of the guidelines, please suggest replacement text.
- Feedback should be supported by scientific evidence.

Please note that all recommendations are evidence-based, and rated according to the strength of available evidence from a systematic meta-review. While they aim to be feasible and appropriate for the clinical setting, they do not constitute ‘instructions’ for implementation to health services.

At the end of the consultation period all feedback will be considered by the working group members, particularly the lead author/s of the section. Where appropriate, modifications will be made to the draft guidelines. The final version will be posted to a web-based platform in early 2025.

COSA would like to sincerely thank the multidisciplinary working group for their contribution to this worthwhile project, chaired by Dr Ursula Sansom-Daly.

Download Draft Guidelines for Psychosocial Management of AYAs Diagnosed with Cancer