On Wednesday, January 8, 2025, PHEN held a hybrid Managing Survivorship Meeting and Webinar at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute titled Reigniting the Flame: Rediscovering Love and Intimacy After Prostate Cancer. The speakers included Keith Crawford, MD, PhD, the PHEN Director of Clinical Trials and Patient Education, and Sharon Bober, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Crawford and Dr. Bober took part in a fireside chat about managing sexual health and intimacy as part of prostate cancer survivorship.
Dr. Crawford first introduced Dr. Bober, explaining that, “this session is about hope, healing, and the journey to help you build a connection of intimacy after you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer.” Dr. Bober then described how sexual health is connected to one’s sense of self-esteem and sexual dysfunctions are “real and profound impacts people struggle with.”
Further, Dr. Bober mentioned surveys showing that sexual health is one of the top factors that men list as the most challenging part of prostate cancer treatment. Most importantly, the conversation emphasized the need for couples to communicate about their sexual health issues and face prostate cancer together.
For example, if a male tells his partner he does not feel like a real man and his significant other tells him that she still sees him as the same person, that can provide relief and greater harmony for the couple. The speakers also answered audience questions, going over the importance of couple communication and therapeutics for sexual health issues.
Once the fireside chat concluded, audience members answered survey questions. The results show that 76% of the survey takers stated the meeting and presentation content was excellent while 22% said the meeting was good. Further, 85% of polltakers said the session was very relevant to their needs and 93% rated the speaker as excellent. Lastly, 91% would recommend this session to others.
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