W27-- More Than Lungs: Mental Health, Trauma, & Anxiety in CF Care

As advances in cystic fibrosis (CF) treatment continue to improve physical health outcomes and extend life expectancy, the psychosocial challenges faced by people with CF remain a critical component of comprehensive care. This session will explore the mental, emotional, and behavioral health needs of individuals with CF and highlight ways CF clinicians can support and address these concerns.
Presenters will examine the impact of different CFTR modulators on mental health outcomes. Attendees will gain insight into medical traumatic stress in CF and learn about the development of tools designed to provide trauma-informed care in CF programs. The session will explore how sleep quality influences mood, energy, wellness, and daily functioning, and its impacts on physical and psychological health.
In addition, speakers will highlight the role of a child life specialist in CF clinic, sharing psychosocial interventions that promote resilience and coping to reduce treatment-related anxiety and support developmental adjustment in pediatric CF care. The session will show how CF Peer Connect helps to reduce isolation and provides individualized support for CF patients.
Through these diverse perspectives, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how multidisciplinary teams can integrate trauma-informed, developmentally appropriate, and patient-centered approaches to optimize emotional well-being and quality of life for people with CF.
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Describe key psychosocial challenges affecting individuals with CF, including anxiety, depression, medical trauma, sleep disruption, and social isolation.
Discuss current evidence regarding mental health outcomes following CFTR modulator therapy and implications for clinical care.
Identify strategies for implementing trauma-informed and developmentally supportive interventions within CF programs.
Recognize the value of peer support, child life services, and multidisciplinary psychosocial care in promoting resilience, coping, and overall well-being among people with CF and their families.

Presentation Order:

1. Sleep Quality and Quantity: Relationship With Exercise, Energy, Mood and Overall Wellness in Adults With Cystic Fibrosis Before/After Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor at Baseline Using the AWESCORE – Presented by Brenda Button

2. More Than Medicine: Child Life in Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Care – Presented by Abby Rose

3. A Better State of Mind? Mental Health Outcomes After CFTR Modulator Transition – Presented by Karen Ochoa

4. CF Peer Connect: Ten Years of Evolution to Better Support the Community – Presented by Claudia Rodriguez

5. Medical Traumatic Stress in Cystic Fibrosis (CF): Development of the Trauma-Informed Readiness Index (TIRI) Using a National Survey of CF Providers – Presented by Alexandra Hinton