The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation has awarded two grants through its Bridging
Cancer Care™ program to fund Centers of Excellence
in oncology nursing and smoking cessation in Russia and the Czech
Republic. The centers will offer training and technical assistance to
nurses and will disseminate lessons and impactful approaches to broader
audiences throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
The Cancer Care Nursing Practice Center of Excellence is being funded
through a two-year, $350,000 grant to World Services of LaCrosse.
The center will be established in Saratov Oblast, Russia and expand to
the Moscow Oblast, and will draw on the experiences gained through two
previous projects funded by the Foundation. Those projects focused on
expanding the scope of practice for nurses in providing care to cancer
patients in the community and strengthening nurse education.
The Eastern Europe Nurses’ Center of Excellence for Tobacco Control is
being funded through a two-year, $350,000 grant to the International
Society of Nurses in Cancer Care (ISNCC). The center will be
based in Prague, Czech Republic, and provide smoking cessation training
and resources to nurses and communities in the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. The center will draw from experiences
gained from projects previously funded by the Foundation that focused on
improving tobacco control skills for general practice and oncology
nurses in Eastern Europe, engaging them in delivering evidence-based
cessation interventions and helping to raise community awareness about
the need for tobacco control.
In addition to the Centers of Excellence grants, the Foundation also
announced two other Bridging Cancer Care grants:
University of Washington and Russian Nurses Association will
receive $129,179 to build upon a previous project to train nurses in
Russia in evidence-based oncology nursing practices to improve patients’
quality of life, enhance their ability to manage their symptoms and
decrease their anxiety and depression.
Project HOPE Poland will receive a $47,803 sustainability grant
to expand a two-year program to improve early detection of cancer in
children in Poland by strengthening the role of community nurses and
primary health care teams. Project HOPE will develop national
recommendations and guidelines for primary care physicians when they
suspect cancer in their pediatric patients.
“Nurses play a significant role in the delivery of care for cancer
patients and in the lives of their families and caregivers and are a
vital component of the health care system, disseminating patient and
family educational information , providing psychosocial support and
improving overall patient outcomes,” said John Damonti, president,
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. “By providing funding for two Centers
of Excellence that will serve as best practice models, we are hopeful
that we can continue to maximize the position of nurses and expand the
scope of nursing practice in Central and Eastern Europe. We are equally
pleased to provide continued funding for several programs that have
demonstrated success in those areas, thereby advancing the role of
nurses in the care of patients with cancer.”
About Bridging Cancer Care
Bridging Cancer Care is the Foundation’s umbrella program for
efforts to reduce cancer disparities in Central and Eastern Europe by
improving oncology nursing skills and building partnerships between
oncology nurses and the community. Cancer is the second-most common
cause of death in Europe and mortality rates in Central and Eastern
Europe are significantly higher than those in Western Europe.
About the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
The mission of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is to promote health
equity and improve the health outcomes of populations disproportionately
affected by serious diseases and health conditions. For more information
about the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, please visit www.bms.com/foundation
or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bmsnews.
Copyright Business Wire 2013