Contemporary Psychosocial Care in the CFTR Modulator Era – A LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs
Join colleagues and peers from around Australia and New Zealand as we explore psychosocial risk and resilience factors, challenges in care in the cystic fibrosis (CF) clinical setting, and intervention strategies for multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in the modern era of CF care
On behalf of the Living Well with CF (LWWCF) initiative, welcome to Contemporary psychosocial care in the CFTR modulator era – a LWWCF training program for CF MDTs, developed to equip CF MDT members with the knowledge and skills required to confidently identify and respond to psychosocial needs as part of routine CF care.
We look forward to welcoming 1-2 nominated representatives from all hospital- and community-based CF teams in Australia and New Zealand to be part of this exciting training opportunity. Together we will explore how to deliver best-practice psychosocial CF care to optimise health, treatment adherence, wellbeing, and engagement with care for people living with CF.
This training program has been funded and initiated by Vertex Pharmaceuticals in partnership with The Med Collective and is brought to you as part of the Living Well with CF (LWWCF) initiative.
Watch the introductory video for more information about psychosocial risk and resilience in the CF setting and the LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs.
Why is this Training Program needed?
CF teams are full of hard-working and devoted health professionals who deserve high-quality education in managing increasing psychosocial complexity.
As the therapeutic landscape for cystic fibrosis (CF) has transformed over the last decade, people living with CF are navigating more diverse issues that can impact their mental and psychosocial wellbeing.1-3 The psychosocial burden associated with CF is high and closely related to physical and mental health outcomes across all life stages.4 Psychosocial risk factors are known to impact quality of life and ability to sustain daily care.5,6 Psychosocial resilience is recognised to be crucial to health, treatment adherence, wellbeing, engagement with care and quality of life. As we transition into a new chapter of CF care and CFTR modulator therapies, we must ensure psychosocial care keeps pace if these treatment advances are to be fully realised.
Optimising CF psychosocial care is an international priority requiring a multidisciplinary team (MDT) effort.7
Psychosocial care is everyone’s responsibility – all members of the CF MDT play an important role in supporting psychosocial wellbeing, early identification of psychosocial challenges, and the implementation of proactive and targeted interventions to optimise quality of life and the ability to sustain daily care, thereby empowering patients and caregivers to live well with CF. It is crucial that all members of the CF team feel confident and equipped to identify and respond to psychosocial risk and support psychosocial resilience within the context of routine CF care.
Outcomes from the Living Well with CF (LWWCF) initiative discovery phase in 2022 (and supported by insights uncovered during the SHIFT 2022 symposium) identified the following CF healthcare professional educational needs:
- Promote MDT understanding about the broad spectrum of psychosocial needs impacting those living with CF in the modern era of CF care, including but beyond anxiety and depression.
- Equip MDT members with the knowledge and skills required to confidently identify and respond to psychosocial needs as part of routine CF care.
- Promote the principles that unpin what it means to Live Well with CF – including agency, resilience, self-management, connection, and communication.
- Cascade awareness of and access to appropriate resources and supports for people living with CF and their clinical care teams.
Contemporary psychosocial care in the CFTR modulator era – a LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs has been developed to address these needs and equip CF MDT members with the knowledge and skills required to confidently identify and respond to psychosocial risk and resilience as part of routine CF care.
Save the Date!
Online training workshop:
Friday 20 October 2023
Have you been nominated and you are ready to register for the online training workshop?
Complete the online registration form
Click the links below for more information on:
Training program structure
The LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs utilises a train-the-trainer format that is comprised of three components:
- An online, interactive training workshop attended by nominated CF team representatives
- Dissemination of education by nominated representatives to local CF teams
- Training program evaluation.
Online training workshop
The online, interactive training workshop will be attended by nominated health professionals representing all major hospital- and community-based CF teams throughout Australia and New Zealand. (See Participant nomination and eligibility)
Expand the following sections for more information.
After completing the training workshop, participants should be able to:
- Explain what Living Well with CF means and be familiar with the LWWCF initiative, website, Resource Directory, LWWCF Insights and resources available to support people with CF to live well.
- Provide an overview of prominent and emerging psychosocial risk and resilience factors impacting people with CF, carers and family members across the lifespan in the modern era of CFTR modulator therapy.
- Implement a CF MDT response framework that respects the importance of a supportive patient-health provider relationship, promotes early identification of psychosocial risk and resilience, and enables all members of the CF team to provide initial and timely response and intervention.
- Describe current challenges for CF teams tasked with identifying psychosocial risk and resilience and implementing best-practice psychosocial care.
- Engage in conversations and action planning within local MDT teams to address MDT confidence, culture and local perspectives impacting best-practice psychosocial care for people living with CF.
- Participate in development of care and referral processes and communication practices to support psychosocial care for people living with CF within the unique context of their local CF centre/team.
Please note: session times and details subject to change; registered participants will be updated accordingly. †Session times differ across Australian and New Zealand time zones – please check local times.
Session 1: 10.00am – 12.30pm (AEDT)
During the first session, we will explore MDT psychosocial awareness and roles, risk and resilience identification and intervention strategies in the modern era of CFTR modulator therapy. Life-stage specific case studies and breakout discussions during Session 1 will ensure aspects of care are addressed across the lifespan, from paediatric to adult.
| Time | Description | Faculty |
| 10.00-10.10am | Welcome and introductions | Maggie Harrigan |
| 10.10-10.20am | Training program background – the Living Well with CF initiative | Maggie Harrigan |
| 10.20-10.35am | The role of the MDT | Maggie Harrigan |
| 10.35-10.50am | Psychosocial assessment: A strengths-based approach | Maggie Harrigan |
| 10.50-11.20am | Understanding and identifying psychosocial risk and resilience | Jess Mifsud |
| 11.20-12.00pm | Life-stage breakout discussions: Psychosocial risk and resilience | Facilitated discussion groups |
| 12.00-12.25pm | An MDT response framework | Maggie Harrigan, Liz Shevill |
| 12.25-12.30pm | Session summary and overview of session 2 | Maggie Harrigan |
| 12.30-1.30pm* | Lunch break |
*Includes 30-minute buffer for session overrun to ensure adequate time for group discussions.
Session 2: 1.30pm – 4.00pm (AEDT)
In the second session, we will review the training resources and guidance that will be provided to all workshop participants to enable CF team representatives to return to their local CF team and share learning from the workshop, thereby cascading crucial psychosocial knowledge and skills to all hospital- and community-based CF teams in Australia and NZ. Interactive discussions in Session 2 will explore MDT confidence, culture and local perspectives for implementing psychosocial care in the CF setting, as well as steps for planning and implementing psychosocial care training within CF teams.
| Time | Description | Faculty |
| 1.30-1.40pm* | Application of MDT response framework: Strategies to promote engagement | Jess Mifsud |
| 1.40-2.30pm | Life-stage breakout discussions: Application of MDT response framework and strategies to promote engagement | Facilitated discussion groups |
| 2.30-2.45pm | Education and action planning for local MDTs | Maggie Harrigan |
| 2.45-3.00pm | Disseminating learning to local CF teams | Liz Shevill |
| 3.00-3.50pm | Breakout discussions and feedback: Action planning and next steps | Facilitated discussion groups |
| 3.50-4.00pm | Workshop summary and closing remarks† | Maggie Harrigan |
*Start time may change, dependent on timing and duration for first session. †Please allow an additional 30-minute buffer for session overrun to ensure adequate time for group discussions.
Participant nomination and eligibility
CF teams are asked to identify and nominate 1-2 representatives from within the team who are best placed to participate in the training workshop and subsequently deliver the training to the local CF MDT. This is an internal decision, as every CF team is different, with representatives nominated by each team likely to represent various disciplines. Nominated participants will join other health professionals from all major CF hospital and community teams throughout Australia and New Zealand to take part in the online training workshop on 20 October 2023.
Nominated workshop participants will:
- be embedded members of the CF team
- be selected because they have a core role in providing psychosocial care to patients and caregivers living with CF
- represent various disciplines depending on unique CF team staffing, roles/responsibilities and team structures, e.g. clinical nurse consultants/specialists, nurse practitioners, physicians, social workers, physiotherapists, or psychologists
- have an appropriate level of authority to allow them to subsequently deliver the psychosocial training to their local CF team, using the training resources and support provided
- complete the online registration form
- be available to participate in the training workshop on 20 October 2023.
If you have any questions or want more information about the nomination process, please Contact us.
Have you been nominated and you are ready to register for the training workshop?
Complete the online registration form.
Dissemination of education to local CF teams
After the workshop, training resources and guidance will be provided to all workshop participants to enable CF team representatives to return to their local CF team and share learning from the workshop, thereby cascading crucial psychosocial knowledge and skills to all hospital- and community-based CF teams in Australia and NZ.
Expand the following sections for more information.
Training resources and guidance will be provided to all CF team representatives who participate in the training workshop. These resources are still being finalised but are expected to include:
- PowerPoint slide deck (with slide notes) that can be customised for local psychosocial training (similar to slides presented during the training workshop)
- MDT response framework guide
- Life-stage specific case studies, with interactive questions
- In future: Recordings from the training workshop.
Program evaluation
Pre- and post-workshop surveys will be completed by all nominated workshop participants, allowing us to evaluate and measure the impact of the training activity.
A follow-up survey will be sent to and completed by nominated workshop participants at an appropriate time post-local CT team rollout of psychosocial care training to explore change in clinical practice following training implementation, allowing us to further evaluate and measure the impact of the training activity.
Aggregated, de-identified results from surveys will be shared with CF team leads, workshop participants as well as the training program steering committee and the sponsor, Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Register for the LWWCF online training workshop
All CF teams in Australia and New Zealand are asked to identify and nominate 1-2 representatives who are best placed to participate in the training workshop and subsequently to return to their local CF team and share learning from the workshop using the resources and guidance provided. (See Workshop participant nomination and eligibility)
Nominated CF team representatives need to register to participate in the training workshop to be held on 20 October 2023 by completing the online registration form.
Please note that registration is open to healthcare professionals working in cystic fibrosis in Australia and New Zealand only. Information about the LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs should not be distributed further.
About the LWWCF initiative
For more information about the Living Well with CF (LWWCF) initiative, go to our website https://lwwcf.com.au where you can also explore the LWWCF Resource Directory and LWWCF Insights resources.
Other health professional resources for psychosocial learning
More information
If you have any questions about the LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs, please Contact us.
References: 1. Smith BA, et al. Pediatr Pulmonol 2016;51(S44):S71-S78. 2. Havermans T, Staab D. Thorax 2016;71(1):1-2. 3. Balfour-Lynn IM, King JA. Paediatr Respir Rev 2020 doi: 10.1016/j.prrv.2020.05.002. 4. Quittner AL, et al. Thorax 2016;71(1):26-34. 5. Quittner A, et al. Thorax 2014; 69(12): 1090-1097. 6. Schechter MS, et al. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis 2021; 20(1):120-126. 7. Søvold LE, et al. Front Public Health 2021; 9:679397. AU-20-2300089. August 2023. TAPS NP19642.
The LWWCF initiative and Training Program for CF MDTs was initiated and funded by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, our foundation sponsor. The LWWCF website, Directory and LWWCF-owned resources (including LWWCF Insights and worksheets) were developed independently via partnerships between the LWWCF Steering Group and The Med Collective, the medical education agency behind LWWCF.
Please note that the LWWCF Training Program for CF MDTs is open to healthcare professionals working in cystic fibrosis in Australia and New Zealand only. Information about the program should not be distributed further.
NZ healthcare professionals need to be aware of the significant differences between Australia and New Zealand in terms of cystic fibrosis medication registration, availability and funding status. Please refer to the Medsafe and Pharmac websites for further information.