Coordination as an Element of Modern Oncological Patient Care – the Example of the Oncological Coordinators Work at the University Hospital in Krakow

The aim of this article is to look at coordination as a new approach to working with cancer patients. Knowledge about the physical, social, emotional, existential and spiritual consequences of the disease is the basis for the ability to assess to what extent disruptions in these spheres affect the well-being of the patient and his family. I present an example of the work of coordinators at the university hospital in Krakow in the context of knowledge on this subject from more advanced centers. Moreover, I confront the coordination approach with the work of oncology social workers. It is the oncology social workers who undertake effective interventions to deal with the consequences of the crisis caused by the disease and to strengthen the resources inherent in interpersonal relationships and in the patient’s environment. Professional social work, focused on strengthening the families of people with oncological diseases, is a special area that may extend the professional identity of a social worker to be active in the field, which although it is a statutory task of social work, its use in practice is not a common phenomenon. It seems an important combination of the work of oncology coordinators working in hospitals with the work of social workers working in patients’ living environments.

Sexuality is an important part of social life, as is understanding what constitutes the acceptable behaviors, dispositions, language and discourses within its walls. This article aims to consolidate the relationship of classical sexual script theory with Bourdieu’s notion of habitus through an expansion of what has been called erotic habitus. The article aims to dissect the perception of corporeal norms and dispositions as reflective of patterned valuations of what is considered adequate or normalized behavior in a sexual setting, including the communication of desire and reactions to it. By investigating a sexual habitus it becomes possible to take in the umbrella that is a collective sexuality which is culturally conditioned and in turn impinges on individual or idiosyncratic desires and expressions of such. The purpose of the following article is to provide the theoretical background through which sexual practices may be studied as much more than simply the study of desire.

In permanently introducing this new section to our periodical, we wish to call the reader’s attention to a unique approach we are consciously taking. In a desire to identify impending foci in our field, we have invited the youngest of our colleagues – MA and PhD candidates in social work – to act as our reviewers. Furthermore, considering the vast multitude of scholarly articles published annually, we have asked our students to primarily focus on this segment which is more likely to reflect the most recent findings. That said, we have not set a strict date range in the hope that our reviewers will freely discover or recover studies which might have been overlooked heretofore.

Sh. Waren, J.Ch. Deckert (2020). Contemplative Practices for Self-Care in the Social Work Classroom, “Social Work”, 65 (1): 11–20.
Reviewed by Magdalena Surówka

R.B. Nikku, A.Z. Hatta (2014). Spiritually Sensitive Social Work: The Road Worth Taking, in: Social Work Education and Practice: Scholarship and Innovations in the Asia Pacific, Chapter 10. Primrose Hall, Australia. ISBN: 978-1-304-77913-7.
Reviewed by Michał Holewa