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Speak Up

The aim of the recently launched Speak Up! Campaign is to encourage cancer patients to speak up about their chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV). The campaign, developed by EONS and sponsored by Merck, Sharp & Dohme provides educational materials for both patients and nurses to support increased dialogue about CINV, a serious side effect of chemotherapy.

It is estimated that about 50% of the people who undergo chemotherapy suffer from nausea and vomiting, which may cause dehydration, fatigue, loss of appetite and difficulty concentrating. Some patients are more vulnerable to CINV than others. These include women (even more so if they experienced these symptoms during pregnancy), young people and patients who receive highly emetogenic chemotherapy treatments.

“Nausea and vomiting are two of the most feared side effects of cancer treatment, and can have a great impact in the quality of life of patients. Many patients are unable to carry on with their daily routines and some may even consider stopping chemotherapy treatment,” said Jan Foubert. “CINV no longer has to be an accepted part of receiving chemotherapy, now there are medications that can help patients overcome these side effects. However, if cancer patients do not speak up, we will not be able to help them.”

The Speak Up! Campaign is being run in several European countries including Italy (Associasione Infermieri de Assistenza Oncologica), the Netherlands (Nederlandse Vereniging van Oncologie Verpleegkundigen), Portugal (Escola Superior de Enfermagem Cidade de Porto), Spain (Sociedad Espanola de Enfermeria Oncologia) and the United Kingdom (UK Royal College of Nursing, UK Cancer Nursing Society). In addition, several local societies from throughout Eastern and Western Europe have requested materials and plan to run the campaign locally.

The Speak Up! Campaign materials include:

• An educational brochure about CINV for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, which includes what to expect from chemotherapy, about CINV, self assessment, tips to managing CINV, questions to ask the physician or nurse, and the importance of Speaking Up! about symptoms.
• A guide to assist nurses in discussing CINV with patients; identifying patients at risk, assisting patients with self assessment, tips on managing CINV, and anti-emetic treatment options.
• A poster for use in physician offices, waiting rooms and chemotherapy infusion rooms to remind cancer patient to speak up about their nausea and vomiting symptoms so that their healthcare providers can help them better manage these side effects

The implementation steps of the Speak Up! Campaign include:

• Request the desired quantity of materials from EONS.
• Contact a local office of Merck, Sharp & Dohme to partner with them to implement the campaign.
• Develop a list of key hospitals you want to target to implement the Speak Up! Campaign.
• Define who will be the main contact for the hospitals and clinics and who will be in charge of monitoring the development of the programme in each hospital.
• Contact the hospitals / clinics and present them with the campaign.
• Determine how many copies of each material the hospitals want.
• Discuss the logistic for materials distribution and shipping of the materials.
• Assess need for training nurses on how to use the materials.
• Consider developing a press announcement in local press to raise awareness among nurses and patients about the campaign.

The Speak-Up! programme will promote and encourage effective two-way communication enabling the patient and nurse to work together to improve the patient's quality of life.