The Cancer Toolkit
Project description
The Cancer Toolkit is a simple peer-to-peer resource that educates, equips and empowers the newly diagnosed patient, and their supporter community. The Toolkit consists of three pillars – patient, supporter and community.
With the Patient primary and central to the conversation, the Patient toolkit provides an immediate resource to guide them from the moment of diagnosis, throughout their treatment journey. The Supporter toolkit recognises that supporters also need support and aims to equip them in their specific role to contribute and align to patients’ effort. While the Community toolkit aligns and mobilisers a group of aligned supporters and creates a cohesive and aligned patient community.
The Patient Toolkit will be provided both online and in hard copy format, for those patients that require a more tactile experience. Ultimately, the resource provides hope for people living with cancer.
Outcomes
Patients and their caregivers often experience reduced capacity to mount an effective and robust response when newly diagnosed with cancer. The Cancer Toolkit aims to address this and improve patient outcomes by facilitating:
Increased knowledge base for patients and their supporters
Greater sense of control and empowerment through education
Increased self-efficacy
Greater connection with supportive community
Enhanced psychosocial wellbeing
Impact on the healthcare professional
It is preferable that the newly diagnosed patient receives this at the point of diagnosis or as soon after as possible. A 15-minute orientation of the Patient Toolkit immediately post-diagnosis would be an ideal transition for a patient before leaving the hospital and venturing out on their own.
Impact on the healthcare institution
Empowering patients to take greater control over their health outcomes and decision making may improve their interactions with hospital and medical staff. This may lead to reduced burden on the hospital’s patient services.
Proposer
Cholangiocarcinoma Australia
Main Beach, QLD 4217
Project contact person:
Steve Holmes
steve@cholangiocarcinoma.com.au
Other project team members:
Steve Holmes (Project lead & patient)
Claire Holmes (Caregiver)
This project is ineligible for the Patient Central Award, however we believe it provides valuable access to information and support to improve health outcomes for people impacted by cancer.