Washington, DC. – Supporting people living with cancer is a top priority for any organization and individual working in the cancer space. The Cancer Support Community (CSC), the largest professionally led nonprofit network of cancer support worldwide, is a cancer support structure unlike any other in the world.
Recently recognized by Vice President Joe Biden’s Moon Shot program, the CSC ‘s approach starts and ends with the most influential members of the cancer network: the patient and caregiver. While there are more benefits available on their website than we’re able to mention here, some of their top initiatives are:
· CSC’s Research And Training Institute – Seeks to examine the critical role of social, emotional and behavioral needs of patients and matches needs to platforms that can help.
· Cancer Experience Registry – An online community of more than 12,000 cancer patients and caregivers. Their needs are synthesized and used to help shape policies in Washington as well as programs people facing cancer need.
· Cancer Policy Institute – Communicates evidence based solutions and needs of patients to improve patient outcomes and decrease overall expenses.
· Frankly Speaking About Cancer – A cancer education series that covers everything from types of cancer to topics specific to the cancer community.
And the CSC’s results are gaining ground. They experienced a 72% increase in outreach on social media in 2016 as well as fielded more than 18,000 calls within their 24/7 hotline and more than 100,000 people have benefited from their cancer insurance checklist, just to name a few of their accomplishments.
You can read more about them and how to get involved in many of their initiatives on their website here.
Why This Matters –
Any initiatives we spot in our search to uncover experiences or stories that fuel better health care experiences, we’re all in. The CSC’s approach to bringing in the patient’s voice early and often is also a great proof point around several healthcare trends we are following in 2017.
But even more interesting is the CSC’s mission to examine the critical role of social, emotional and behavioral needs of patients and caregivers. Our most recent whitepaper, Advancing Beyond Patient Centricity, authored by Behavioral Insights, a strategic solution at inVentiv Health Communications, recently completed a two-year ethnographic study of 30 American families to examine the social forces impacting individual health behavior.
It is great to see other organizations pushing the boundaries of not only a patient-centric approach but also all the influences that surround that patient and caregiver in their treatment journey and the various approaches that continue to support them.
