Conference News and Proceedings
The SACO 2023 Conference in Cape Town between 1 and 3 September was attended by about 700 delegates from South Africa, Africa and abroad. Attendees included many different professionals providing care and treatment for patients with a cancer diagnosis. The SAOSWF was afforded the chance to convene a programme on psychosocial care in the oncology sector. The first day of presentations had themes that focussed on the Multidisciplinary Team, The therapeutic toolbox employed in caring for patients with cancer and complementary therapies of animal assisted therapy and aromatherapy.
The second day of the conference was again a jam packed day of sessions. Speakers considered the role of physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy in the rehabilitation of the cancer patient.
A special focus on lung cancer was provided by Sr Khumalo from Durban on the DoH efforts to screen for illness and Gretchen Minaar from CANSA in Paarl who outlined the eKick Butt Online Quit Smoking Programme.
This was followed by a combined session of social workers, nurses and allied healthcare professionals with presentations and research that focused on supportive care in nursing and social work.
The final session on Sunday offered a practical self care experience from Dr Shanie Boshoff.
Salome Meyer from the Cancer Alliance presented a Call to Action as part of the final plenary session for the establishment of a National Cancer Institute in South Africa.
SAOSWF had a stand in the exhibition hall where we were able to interact with all conference delegates and provided information on the organisation. It was really wonderful to meet social workers, doctors and many other health professionals who shared an interest in caring and treating cancer patients. The networking allowed us to secure speakers and topics for our ongoing CPD programme for 2024.
News of the 2024 CPD programme will be available in the next month or two once it has been confirmed by the committee.
