January 2020 – Volume 38 – Issue 1

To borrow from John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello.” As Lucinda (Cindy) Pfalzer, PT, PhD, FAPTA, and Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, steps down from the Editor-in-Chief position at Rehabilitation Oncology, a role she has deftly held for the last 6 years, we do not merely answer goodbye in reply, we say thank you.

Thank you for transitioning the journal to a new publisher, with streamlined processes and efficiencies. The Journal has never looked better. Thank you for increasing the number of quality publications. We have more submissions of high-quality research than ever before. These articles are important as we advance oncology rehabilitation to meet the needs of this growing population. Thank you for mentoring—mentoring and guiding a new generation of associate editors and for mentoring and guiding me as I learned the ropes. I only hope that my performance is half as good as yours was. We on the Editorial Board sincerely wish you the best as you try to retire yet again.

And I say hello. I am eager to work with a stellar group of associate editors in bringing the best oncology rehabilitation research to you, our readers, who look to us for the latest information and evidence for practice. Together with the Editorial Board team, we will build on the foundation of our previous editors and continue to elevate the quality of Rehabilitation Oncology. We will work toward developing more tools that you may use to implement evidence into practice and get the answers you need to provide the best care. I hope to meet many of you at CSM in February in Denver, Colorado. I am striving to “Reach a Higher Peak,” and welcome your feedback on the Journal.

This issue is our annual special topics issue, featuring hospice and palliative care, ably guest-edited by Christopher M. Wilson, PT, DPT, DScPT, and Richard Briggs, PT. The role of physical therapy in palliative care and hospice care aligns well with the APTA’s vision—transforming society by optimizing movement to improve the human experience. Dr Wilson and Mr Briggs have culled the best research and commentaries related to providing palliative and hospice care within the context of improving the human experience. Kudos to them for the excellent work they did on this issue, and read on for more details.

– Editor, Mary Insana Fisher, PT, PhD