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“We’ve found that if someone’s anxiety and mental health needs are cared for from the beginning they are more likely to complete their treatment they are more likely to recover, because they are not letting their fear and anxiety keep them from coming in for their treatment,” Jennifer Malek, nurse practitioner who specializes in psychiatry and is in charge of the program.
Patients with mental health issues existing before the cancer diagnosis also need specific help navigating how to treat both together.
Their mental health medication might not interact well with complex cancer drugs, so Malek and the oncologists can work together to find solutions.
Patients also might let their mental health care fall to the side because of all the time and energy that a cancer treatment regimen can take, so the program can help make sure both health needs are met.
“We can make sure there is not a lapse in their mental health treatment,” Malek said.
The program is new and still being developed. Malek said the goal is to grow the program and find new ways to integrate mental health services into the cancer center.
Dr. Karen Wonders, executive director of Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, which works with seven area hospitals with exercise training and nutrition counseling for cancer patients, said with cancer there can be a lot of fears that come to the surface and the patients she works with are often dealing with anxiety and depression.
“I think what Kettering is doing is really unique in that they are addressing these issues and trying to help these issues. For so long patients felt like they had these feelings but didn’t have any place to turn,” Wonders said.
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Elizabeth Koelker, executive director of oncology services for Kettering Health Network, said before the $53 million Kettering Cancer Center was developed, she talked with staff at every network location to ask what services should be in the building.
“And I thought I knew what they were going to say. I was not prepared that every single place that I went they said ‘We have to have mental health. We have to have someone who can address the mental health needs of our patients,’” she said.
Following a diagnosis, cancer treatment can move fast and patients might not be able to get in to see an outside mental health provider for a month or two.
Malek said she can help patients by seeing them in a therapy and counseling setting right away as well as with medication management if they have a diagnosed condition like depression.
She said the mental health support is not just for the patient but also for helping the family navigate the diagnosis together with the patient.
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She might meet a patient first and then bring the family members back to facilitate a conversation or the reverse where she first meets with the family and helps them bring thoughts and concerns to the patient.
“There are things you need to express and experience and how that affects your communication often varies,” she said.
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