The OPaCT Project at the Psychooncological Clinic at the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg won the Innovation for Patient Care Award 2022. The awarded project is Germany's first personalized psycho-oncological online intervention for chemotherapy patients. NCT Heidelberg is also breaking new ground by offering an online group for music therapy that continues after a successful pilot phase.
The National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD).
Patients often have many concerns at the beginning of cancer treatment. This is precisely where the OPaCT project, developed and implemented by the Psychooncological Clinic at NCT Heidelberg, comes into play. OPaCT is short for "Online Support for Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy" (Online-Unterstützungsangebot für Patient*innen unter Chemotherapie). OPaCT is the first personalized online intervention in Germany designed explicitly for chemotherapy patients. OPaCT participants can write down their thoughts, feelings, and experiences at any time and receive detailed and individual responses from the attending psycho-oncologists. This regular and personal feedback, along with additional accessibility through a contact function, ensures highly individual and needs-based patient care.
Till Johannes Bugaj, Medical Director of the Psycho-oncological Clinic at NCT Heidelberg, says: "OPaCT is designed as an enabler that empowers patients through therapeutically guided intervention, especially at the beginning of treatment, to engage in discussions about their illness and related topics. Through close collaboration with other counseling services at NCT Heidelberg, OPaCT can provide information not only about psycho-oncology but also about social law questions, as well as exercise and sports."
OPaCT won the Innovation for Patient Care Award 2022 for its innovative idea and implementation. The innovation award for new perspectives in oncology was themed "Talking About Cancer" at the most recent award ceremony. The prize is endowed with €11,000 and jointly awarded by the Kidney Cancer Network Germany e.V. and Ipsen.
Miriam Grapp, Diplom-Psychologist and staff member of the Psycho-oncological Clinic at NCT Heidelberg, leads the OPaCT project. She says: "With the prize money, we aim to further develop the online intervention based on the results and feedback from the completed pilot study. We aim to establish OPaCT as a complementary care offer for psycho-oncological."
Another innovative offering from the Psychooncological Clinic at NCT is the online music therapy group for cancer patients. The pilot phase of online music therapy ran from February to April 2023, focusing mainly on listening to music together. Music therapy as a complementary treatment in oncology is gaining importance and has been well-evaluated scientifically. Music therapy interventions in oncology patients have been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, pain and improve the quality of life. The offer at NCT Heidelberg combines group music therapy with mindfulness-based interventions. The group music therapy is open to all patients during or after completing tumor therapy. The online format allows all patients to participate, including those in poorer physical condition or those living at a distance.
Miriam Grapp developed the music therapy offering at NCT Heidelberg together with psychologist Charlotte Flock and is implementing it with her. Miriam Grapp says: "The positive feedback from the participants has motivated us to introduce this concept as a permanent offer of psycho-oncology at NCT Heidelberg starting in the summer of 2023."
Contact for Those Interested:
Psycho-oncological Clinic at NCT Heidelberg Catherine Schneider Phone: 06221 56-4727
E-mail: psychoonkologie@nct-heidelberg.de
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Image Caption:
Miriam Grapp, Diplom-Psychologist and staff member of the Psychooncological Clinic at NCT Heidelberg, receives the IPC Award for the OPaCT project from Patrick Langecker, Patient Engagement Manager, Communication and External Affairs at Ipsen.
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Contact for the press:
Dr. Martin Staiger
National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg
Communication and Events
Im Neuenheimer Feld 460
69120 Heidelberg
Phone: +49 6221 42-1755
E-mail: martin.staiger@nct-heidelberg.de
www.nct-heidelberg.de
Dr. Sibylle Kohlstädt
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
Strategic Communications and Public Relations
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69120 Heidelberg
Phone: +49 6221 42-2843
Fax: +49 6221 42-2968
E-mail: s.kohlstaedt@dkfz.de
www.dkfz.de
Julia Bird
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Heidelberg University Hospital and Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University
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Fax: +49 6221 56-4544
E-mail: presse@med.uni-heidelberg.de
www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de
National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg
The National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg University Hospital and German Cancer Aid. The NCT's goal is to link promising approaches from cancer research with patient care from diagnosis to treatment, aftercare and prevention. The interdisciplinary tumor outpatient clinic is the central element of the NCT. Here the patients benefit from an individual treatment plan prepared in a timely manner in interdisciplinary expert rounds, the so-called tumor boards. Participation in clinical studies provides access to innovative therapies. The NCT thereby acts as a pioneering platform that translates novel research results from the laboratory into clinical practice. The NCT cooperates with self-help groups and supports them in their work. Since 2015, a second site for the NCT beside Heidelberg has been under development in Dresden.
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
With more than 3,000 employees, the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) is Germany’s largest biomedical research institute. DKFZ scientists identify cancer risk factors, investigate how cancer progresses and develop new cancer prevention strategies. They are also developing new methods to diagnose tumors more precisely and treat cancer patients more successfully. The DKFZ's Cancer Information Service (KID) provides patients, interested citizens and experts with individual answers to questions relating to cancer.
To transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the clinic and thus improve the prognosis of cancer patients, the DKFZ cooperates with excellent research institutions and university hospitals throughout Germany:
- National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT, 6 sites)
- German Cancer Consortium (DKTK, 8 sites)
- Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ) Heidelberg
- Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON Mainz) - A Helmholtz Institute of the DKFZ
- DKFZ-Hector Cancer Institute at the University Medical Center Mannheim
- National Cancer Prevention Center (jointly with German Cancer Aid)
The DKFZ is 90 percent financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and 10 percent by the state of Baden-Württemberg. The DKFZ is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers.
Heidelberg University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine: Internationally Renowned Patient Care, Research and Teaching
Heidelberg University Hospital (Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg, UKHD) is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in Germany. The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University (Medizinische Fakultät Heidelberg, MFHD) belongs to the internationally renowned biomedical research institutions in Europe. Both institutions have the common goal of developing new therapies and implementing them rapidly for patients. Heidelberg University Hospital and the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University employs around 14.500 employees and is committed to providing trainings and qualifications. Every year, around 86,000 patients and more than 1.100.000 outpatient cases are treated in more than 50 clinical departments with almost 2.500 beds.
Together with the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) and the German Cancer Aid, the UKHD established the first National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Heidelberg. The goal is to provide care at the highest level as an oncology center of excellence and to rapidly transfer promising approaches from cancer research to the hospital. In addition, the UKHD operates in partnership with the DKFZ and the University of Heidelberg the Hopp Children’s Cancer center Heidelberg (KiTZ), a unique and nationally known therapy and research center for oncological and hematological diseases in children and adolescents.
The Heidelberg Curriculum Medicinale (HeiCuMed) is one of the top medical training programs in Germany. Currently, there are about 4.000 future physicians studying in Heidelberg.