Cancer Coaches

 

Sooner or later all of us will be affected by cancer. Even if we aren't diagnosed personally someone we love or care for will be. Ruth, my wife, lost a step-sister who was also one of her closest friends to a rare form of cancer and a brother is addressing this disease as well. Dear friends have been side-swiped by cancer in the prime of life. Certainly in ministry cancer was a  constant reality for folk in congregations and I had too many funerals of those I regarded highly who were taken by many different forms of this illness.

The positive news is that cancer treatment has taken tremendous steps forward in the nearly forty years since I was ordained. Therapies are no longer worse than the disease, in most cases, and outcomes are far more hopeful. Still, the settings for treatment can be daunting, and the way information is shared is often clinical. Even when family and friends are supportive there can be the sense that they aren't as informed as they want to be and they are often struggling as well.

I heard an interesting CBC radio show White Coat Black Art  piece on the development of Cancer Coach programs to walk alongside individuals dealing with cancer. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/whitecoat/how-cancer-coaches-help-patients-navigate-an-overwhelming-diagnosis-1.4878003

Here is a description from the website of the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation:

How Cancer Coaching Works
You will be paired with a personal Cancer Coach (healthcare professional with background in oncology), who you can connect with throughout your cancer journey. Your Cancer Coach will work with you to identify what’s most important to you in your care. Your Coach will be there along the way to provide support, education, practical guidance and navigation assistance, to help you meet your health and wellness goals and improve your quality of life. Your Cancer Coach will also work with you to anticipate and identify barriers to meeting your goals and brainstorm solutions that work for you.

Apparently the presence of a cancer coach in a patient's life helps to address anxiety, and reduce the number of visits to medical professionals.

This sounds like an excellent initiative to me, especially for those who may not have other support systems, but even with them. So often congregations provide a circle of love and prayer and practical support for those with cancer and other illnesses. Still, every aspect of returning a person to health or helping him or her leave this life in peace matters.

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