Doris Howell Headshot

Professor earns recognition of excellence in cancer education

28 June 2012

We are pleased to announce Bloomberg Nursing associate professor Dr. Doris Howell was presented the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology award for Education Excellence at the 2012 annual meeting in Vancouver. This award recognizes significant contribution to education and training in psychosocial oncology in Canada.

“It is an honour to receive this award with so many deserving candidates in Canada,” said Howell. “The success of one person is dependent on a strong team, especially in guideline development, so I’d also like to acknowledge the contributions of my colleagues throughout my career.”

Howell’s research is predominantly focused on self-management interventions for complex symptoms (fatigue, breathlessness, pain) and to address psychosocial factors that contribute to symptom experience in support of efforts to improve the patient’s experience. She also has an active health service research program focused on better care delivery systems and knowledge translation of best practices, specifically the application of chronic disease self-management for cancer survivorship. This work is enabled by the testing of routinely collected patient-reported outcomes and their use in clinical practice to improve care quality and patient experience of cancer.

“This award acknowledges the Canadian commitment to improving person-centered cancer care through the adoption of psychosocial and supportive care guidelines that foster high quality clinical practice,” said Howell.

Since 2004, Howell has held the RBC Financial Group Chair, Oncology Nursing Research and Education at Princess Margaret Hospital, the first endowed chair in oncology nursing research. She is also cross-appointed to the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and the Department of Health Policy and Evaluation at U of T; the co-director of On-PROST (Ontario Patient Reported Outcomes of Symptoms and Toxicity) at Cancer Care Ontario; and a scientist, Division of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Ontario Cancer Institute at UHN.

The Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (CAPO) is an organization of professionals, clinicians, researchers, educators, and others dedicated to the understanding, treatment and study of the social, psychological, emotional, spiritual and quality-of-life aspects of cancer. CAPO leads nationally and globally in promoting capacity for and excellence in psychosocial oncology services to enhance the wellness of individuals and families. The purpose of CAPO is to foster and encourage interdisciplinary excellence in psychosocial research education and clinical practice in oncology.