The Cancer Society of Finland’s training activities in 2016 were diverse and extensive. Training was offered variously to a range of professional groups and volunteers. Peer support Training and different events on peer support work were held in different parts of the country. Peer support group leader training was held in Central Finland North Karelia, Pirkanmaa and South Finland. Altogether 46 people were trained as group leaders. There were 85 new peer support persons who received training. Meetings and events were held in 13 different areas of Finland. In addition, regional associations organised supplementary training, meetings and recreation events for their support staff. Training sessions were organised in cooperation with the Finnish National Opera for peer support persons, peer support group leaders and CSF employees. The purpose of the training is to help utilise art in peer support teams and as a coping support for staff. Twenty people from all over Finland participated in the training. Training of volunteers in palliative and hospice care The training of palliative and hospice care volunteers started in 2016 as a new focus of developmental work for support persons. Voluntary training of palliative and hospice care was coupled with peer support training. Some of the training is provided for all support persons. Training was piloted in the spring of 2016 at the Cancer Society of Central Finland. The principles used are in line with peer support principles. Expert by experience activity The CSF belongs to the national expert by experience network, which comprises 36 sickness, disability and affiliated organisations and their almost 600 expert by experience actors. The network also includes 55 training units throughout Finland. The expert by experience network receives support for its work from the Finnish Slot Machine Association. The Finnish Rheumatism Association organises the initiative. In 2016, the notable trend of activities was that experts by experience could serve as members and specialists on various professional working groups. The CSF had 12 expert by experience workers. Health information Health information for teachers was organised in Jyväskylä with health information instruction on tobacco and other intoxicants. Cancer Foundation symposium The subject of the Cancer Foundation’s symposium in 2016 was colorectal cancer. The symposia are annual multi-professional events attended by about a hundred oncology physicians representing different areas of specialisation. The 2016 symposium was the 43rd such event. Seminar on nurses and cancer treatment The CSF and the Finnish Nurses Association’s Education and Publishing Company (Fioca Ltd) jointly organised the seminar on nurses and cancer treatment, 27 – 28 April 2016, in Tampere. The event was for health care professionals working with cancer patients. About 40 advice service oncology nurses from the CSF took part in this training seminar, which had about a hundred participants. UICC World Cancer Congress 2016 CSF specialists provided a Master Course training course, which took place for several months and included a training day in October in connection with the Union of International Cancer Control’s World Cancer Congress, held in Paris 31 October – 3 November 2016. The organiser of the course’s component ‘Advocacy in Action – Interacting with decision-makers to keep cancer high on the policy agenda’ was the Association of European Cancer Leagues (ECL). The congress presentations are available at http://www.worldcancercongress.org/ Training activities run by the Finnish Cancer Registry The director of the Finnish Cancer Registry has continued to work as a part-time professor of cancer epidemiology and research director of the Cancer Registry as part time professor of epidemiology at the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Tampere. Many of the members of the CSF work at various universities as docents and are involved in university teaching and in supervising doctoral theses and advanced work and master studies. In addition, researchers work as scientific experts, for instance as peer reviewers in the field. The Finnish Cancer Registry participated in the teaching and guidance of students from abroad at the University of Tampere’s International Doctoral Programme in Epidemiology (IPPE). The Cancer Registry also participated in the teaching organised by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki, which aims to familiarise young researchers and future doctors with epidemiological cancer research.
