East Midlands Cancer Alliance Centre for Psychosocial Health

If you are a patient in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, or Rutland you may be able to access:

  • 1-1 remote videotherapy with a Psychologist from EMCA-CPH
  • A referral to your local level 3 psychology service (NHS Talking Therapies)
  • Florence – an interactive text messaging service designed to help you manage your health and wellbeing related to cancer. Florence can help you with emotional difficulties, sleep, or nausea. Scroll down the page to learn more

Talk to your Cancer Nurse Specialist to find out more, and see below for frequently asked questions about the service.

Receiving psychological treatment over video can help in several ways, it can be:

  • More convenient.
  • Easier to attend regularly.
  • Easier to fit in with the rest of your life.

Videotherapy will involve meeting over the internet, this means:

  • Your information is reasonably secure, because it is encrypted, but it is not 100% secure.
  • The place in your home where you have consultations is important, it needs to feel private and safe.
  • Your internet connection is important. Poor connection will mean poor video and audio.

  • Laptop / PC / Mac / Tablet / iPad or Smartphone. We recommend you use a laptop or desktop with Windows 7 or above. This makes it easier to use screen sharing and collaborative tools.
  • A webcam and a microphone – most devices have these built in. If you do not have a microphone or camera, let us know. Use a headset if you have one, but it is not essential.
  • If you use a web browser to connect, Google Chrome or Safari are best.
  • You may need to enable pop-ups in your browser

  • You will receive a MS Teams link via email before your session. Use the link to join the session
  • Have a room/space where your camera is not facing a window, as the light may affect the video
  • Have your mobile phone, as a back-up if there are any technical problems with the video.
  • Check your Wi-Fi connection or mobile data connection before the session. You can check your internet speed here: fast.com – internet speed of 10 MBPS should be enough for videoconferencing.
  • Please do not use an open Wi-Fi connection (such as at a café), as these are not secure.
  • If you would prefer to have someone with you during the session then you can do so

Technology may not always work properly. The below can help when things do not work as expected:

  • Your therapist will help you set up to get the most out of video-conferencing, safely.
  • All sessions will start with a check that you are comfortable in the place where you are having the consultation. You can agree a way of letting the therapist know that you have either been interrupted or might be overheard if you do not want to say this out loud.
  • If video connection is lost or cannot start within 5 minutes of the session time, your therapist will call you on your mobile phone in case there is a problem with video-conferencing.
  • Have email, mobile phone and mobile texts available throughout sessions so that any problems can be resolved quickly or sessions can continue over the phone.
  • The therapist will help you troubleshoot connection problems for up to 10 minutes. If problems cannot be resolved in this time the consultation will become a telephone session.

Support groups and resources

Cancer can impact how you feel in yourself and how you relate to others. It can be helpful to connect and share your experiences with other people going through similar things.

Visit the Macmillan Support group finder to find voluntary and community services in the East Midlands that you may find helpful.

Florence

Florence (or Flo to her friends) is a simple and easy-to-use text messaging service that helps you manage your health and wellbeing.

Professionals within the NHS designed Florence to provide you with tailored support to suit your needs.

Florence provides a free 8-week anxiety text-message support programme for adults accessing cancer services across the East Midlands.

There are five support programmes available: Anxiety, Low mood, Sleep problems, Fatigue or Pain. 

Florence will support you to manage your health using SMS text messages to and from your mobile phone.

Signing up to Florence is easy. Simply text the most appropriate keyword to 07860 093094 to start the conversation.

Keywords:

  • ANXIETYHELP
  • FATIGUEHELP
  • LOWMOODHELP
  • NAUSEAHELP
  • PAINHELP
  • SLEEPHELP

For example, if your priority is managing anxiety, you should text ANXIETYHELP to 07860 093094.

If, for whatever reason, you decide that you want to stop using Florence, you simply need to send “STOP”, and Florence will stop sending you messages. The choice is yours!

No. If you are receiving messages from Florence, or replying to her from the UK you will not be charged for the messages – you can even use Florence if you have a pay-as-you-go phone with no credit. 

Once set up, Florence will send you text messages to support you with the health aspect you would like to improve, such as sleep, fatigue, nausea or managing your emotions.

Depending on what Florence is helping you manage, she may ask you to send her some information or suggest you try various five-minute exercises, but she will always give you the option to continue without doing so.

For support with using Florence, please speak with your Healthcare Professional.

 

 

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