Welcome to the Cancer Caregiver SIG
Erin Kent, PhD, MS
Dr. Erin Kent is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health and Member of the Lineberger Comprehensive Center Cancer Prevention and Control Program. Dr. Kent’s disciplinary background is epidemiology and health services research. Dr. Kent’s focus is on the impact of social context on cancer control, and she leads a program of patient- and family-centered outcomes research and community engaged scholarship. Dr. Kent is currently leading studies to improve support provision to rural families affected by cancer. Her work has been funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Duke Endowment. Prior to working at UNC, Dr. Kent served as a Cancer Prevention Fellow, Program Director, and Scientific Advisor for the Outcomes Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for 9 years. There, Dr. Kent worked to establish funding opportunities and research resources to better understand the that caregivers face and develop family-centered interventions for cancer patients and their caregivers. A major focus for Dr. Kent is training and mentorship. Dr. Kent works with students, postdoctoral fellows, and other trainees in research proposal development, mixed methods and qualitative research, and research to improve health equity.
Our Mission: To help work toward assuring that nationally, no cancer caregiver who is experiencing significant burden due to their critical role goes unidentified and deprived of necessary psychosocial services.
This SIG was founded in 2014 and focuses on issues relating to caregivers of patients with cancer. There is growing recognition that comprehensive care for patients with cancer involves attending to the psychosocial needs of their informal caregivers, and caregivers represent an underserved population directly affected by cancer. As a result, and by extension, the needs of cancer caregivers should be more directly and comprehensively addressed by APOS. This group is open to all members of APOS who are interested in the development and provision of services for cancer caregivers. Activities of this SIG may include participating in annual workshops, lectures, and conferences focused on caregiving.
One of the APOS member benefits is to join the conversation on Groupsite with any of the 10 Special Interest Groups (SIGs). This is a very engaging conversation platform and the Executive Office is happy to help you navigate this platform and help you set up your profile to begin networking.
