ASCO is providing support in the recognition of burnout and promotion of well-being in oncology. In May 2019, the ASCO Ethics Committee held a Burnout and Moral Distress in Oncology Roundtable. From those discussions, a call to action was published in JCO OP in March 2020 outlining recommendations to address this issue: A Call to Action: Ethics Committee Roundtable Recommendations for Addressing Burnout and Moral Distress in Oncology.
Based on this call to action, ASCO established the Oncology Clinician Well-Being Task Force, whose mission aims to improve the quality, safety, and value of cancer care by enhancing the well-being of oncology clinicians and sustainability of oncology practices. This Task Force has defined clinician well-being and developed a roadmap for broadening resources in this arena. ASCO is providing a variety of tools and resources specific to oncology professionals and the full oncology care team to help navigate through difficult and challenging times. Please check this page frequently as additional resources will continue to be added.
What Is Clinician Well-Being?
The ASCO Oncology Clinician Well-Being Task Force defines clinician well-being as an integrative concept that characterizes quality of life encompassing an individual's work- and personal health-related environmental, organizational, and psychosocial factors. Well-being is the state of experiencing positive perceptions about patients, colleagues, and staff and high engagement with one's clinical work in the presence of working conditions that enable that clinician to thrive. To experience well-being is to feel satisfied with one's clinical work, to find meaning in that work, and to experience professional growth and fulfillment.
New & Noteworthy
- From the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting: Burnout and Mental Health in Oncology Providers: You Are Not Alone
- ASCO Educational Book: Telehealth, Social Media, Patient Empowerment, and Physician Burnout: Seeking Middle Ground
- ASCO Endorses Lorna Breen Act on Clinician Well-Being and Mental Health
COVID-Related ASCO Resources
- ASCO Coronavirus Resources
- American Society of Clinical Oncology Road to Recovery Report: Learning From the COVID-19 Experience to Improve Clinical Research and Cancer Care
- ASCO Special Report: A Guide to Cancer Care Delivery During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Education
- ASCO Annual Meeting Sessions, Posters, and Abstracts
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019
- 2018
- Prior years: 2011 – 2017 Educational Book Collections
- ASCO Connection/Blogs
- Podcasts
- Webinars
Quality
- ASCO Quality of Care Symposium Sessions, Posters, and Abstracts
- 2019 ASCO Quality Training Program Sessions: Burnout
Research/Evidence
- ASCO State of Cancer Care in America
- ASCO Survey of Oncology Practice Operations
- Articles and Publications
- Occupational and Personal Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US Oncologist Burnout and Well-Being: A Study From the ASCO Clinician Well-Being Task Force
- Finding Our Way Out of Burnout
- ASCO Daily News: Addressing Burnout Among Oncologists During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- ASCO Daily News: Education Session on Burnout Makes a Plan to Prioritize Physician Well-Being
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Oncologist Burnout, Emotional Well-Being, and Moral Distress: Considerations for the Cancer Organization's Response for Readiness, Mitigation, and Resilience
- Moral Distress, Organizational Climate, and the Risk of Burnout Among Oncology Physician Assistants
- A Hopefulness Survey of SWOG members: Relationships Among Hope, Job Stress, and Burnout
- To Address Burnout in Oncology, We Must Look To Teams: Reflections on an Organizational Science Approach
- Burnout Among Oncology Physician Assistants (PAs) from 2015 to 2019
- Changes in Burnout Among Oncology Physician Assistants Between 2015 and 2019
- Storytelling as a Means of Improving Community and Decreasing Burnout in a Large Academic Cancer Center
- JCO OP Special Series: Physician Wellness, Burnout, and Moral Distress
- Addressing Depression, Burnout, and Suicide in Oncology Physicians
- From Burnout to Resilience: An Update for Oncologists
- National Study of Burnout and Career Satisfaction Among Physician Assistants in Oncology: Implications for Team-Based Care
- Oncology Fellows' Career Plans, Expectations, and Well-Being: Do Fellows Know What They Are Getting Into?
External Resources
- American College of Physicians, Physician Well-Being and Professional Fulfillment
- American Medical Association, Physician Burnout
- Association of Community Cancer Centers, Oncology Team Resiliency
- Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), COVID-19: Stress & Resilience, Crisis Standards of Care
- National Academies of Medicine, Well-Being Learning Collaborative
Meditation and Mindfulness Apps
- Breathing Zone
- Buddhify
- Calm
- Happify
- Headspace
- Health Journeys
- The Mindfulness App
- Mindfulness Coach
- Mindfulness Daily
- Pause
- Stop Breathe & Think
- Stress Free Now Meditations (Cleveland Clinic)
Questions or Comments? Contact ASCO Staff.