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.

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.