By Marilyn S. Brier, LICSW, oncology social worker,
and Regina Holdstock, BCOP, oncology pharmacist

Caring Headlines, June 17, 2004

After cancer treatment, patients face challenges during a difficult time of transition. They need to figure out how to move ahead with their own lives and help their families recover from the cancer experience, too. It’s a big adjustment to no longer have the daily support of the caregivers who had become such an important part of their lives during treatment.

Nurses and social workers of the MGH Cancer Center identified this as a vulnerable time for patients, and presented the idea of developing a HOPES Program workshop to address this need for enhanced support. The HOPES Program offers free education and support workshops as well as wellness services to patients with cancer, their families, and friends.

Once the HOPES Seminars Committee supported the creation of the new workshop, Marilyn Brier, LICSW, oncology social worker, and Regina Holdstock, BCOP, oncology pharmacist set about creating the content. The focus for the workshop “Living with Cancer… Moving Forward After Treatment,” was to discuss issues and concerns around the completion of treatment, including providing resources for the transition. It was important to have both nursing and social work involved in order to create a workshop that addressed both the clinical and emotional perspectives.

Other HOPES workshops have shown that visual tools are helpful when presenting information, so Brier and Holdstock started by creating a PowerPoint presentation. The goal was to develop a presentation that was both visually appealing and understandable at all levels.

Designing the workshop presented some challenges. Given the strong emotional impact of the post-cancer-treatment journey, it was very important to use just the right language and graphics to communicate the message. The goal was to ensure that everyone would be as comfortable as possible during the presentation. Care was taken in choosing the topics that would be discussed in the workshop, taking into consideration the diversity (religion, spirituality, age, gender, culture, background, etc.) of the groups that usually attend.

Once the initial draft of the presentation was complete, it was brought to key groups within the Cancer Center for review. One group was the HOPES Seminars Committee—a multidisciplinary team that helps guide the creation of new HOPES workshops and services. They provided valuable feedback and further enhanced the presentation.

Brier and Holdstock met with the Network for Patients & Families, a peer support program for patients, family members, partners and friends of people living with cancer. They collaborated with the Cancer Center's Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) who provided essential feedback based on their own personal experiences and insights.

It was a long road, say Brier and Holdstock, but definitely a worthwhile one. They now have a workshop to help people ease back into their lives after cancer treatment. There will always be challenges, but having this workshop to help patients and families address those key issues will be a great asset as they begin to make that transition back to ‘normal’ life.

To find his month’s schedule for “Living with Cancer… Moving Forward After Treatment”.
For all the HOPES Programs workshops and services >>>