Informing, respecting and caring for cancer patients: a LIVESTRONG symposium

What if we could build a system of patient-centered cancer care with all the innovations we could possibly imagine?

  Contributed by Rebekkah Schear, Program Manager, the LIVESTRONG Foundation (IAPO member)

This was the question that brought together nearly 100 stakeholders in Austin, Texas on 12-13 June 2014. LIVESTRONG Foundation gathered a dynamic group of cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, providers, academics, researchers, community organizations, business leaders and policymakers to discuss the essential elements of patient-centered cancer care and share best practices and strategies for implementation. 

The goals of the Symposium were twofold:

• to unearth best practices in delivering Patient-Centered Cancer Care (PCCC) and inspire healthcare stakeholders to consider how they might enhance models of PCCC within their own institutional context;
• and to collectively create a roadmap for implementation of an innovative community-based, patient-centered cancer care model that could serve as the pilot for creation of models globally.

Over the course of two days, participants explored solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in delivery of patient-centered cancer care. They dialogued with patients, survivors and loved ones in order to better understand how cancer care can be even more patient-centered. They participated in a simulation to build “mini-models” of PCCC in the near future too. 

In September, the LIVESTRONG Foundation will be releasing the results of the Symposium and our next steps in working with the cancer community to build new models of patient-centered cancer care. 

Check out a recap video of the Symposium here!