Cancer Support Community

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The mission of Community Support Cancer (CSC) is to ensure that all people affected by cancer are empowered by knowledge, reinforced by action and sustained by the community. CSC focuses on three areas of support: direct service delivery, research, and advocacy.

The organization includes an international Affiliate network that offers social and emotional support to people affected by cancer, as well as a support community available online and over the phone. The Research and Training Institute conducts psychosocial, behavioral, and rescue research. CSC continues its focus on patient advocacy through the Cancer Policy Institute, informing public policy at Washington D.C. and across the nation.

Individual gifts, corporate contributions and foundations, and educational grants are the main source of support for CSC.

Video Cancer Support Community

Histori

The Cancer Support Community was formed in 2009 after the joining of The Wellness Community and Gilda's Club The Wellness Community was founded in 1982 by Harold and Harriet Benjamin with Shannon McGowan in California. They want to create something that has previously been lost in cancer care - an organization that will provide social and emotional support to cancer patients, their families, friends and carers. Gilda Club was founded in 1991 to honor Saturday Night Live comedian and former ovarian cancer patient, Gilda Radner, after her death, by her husband, Gene Wilder, and Joanna Bull with friends and family. Gilda Club opens the site to provide social and emotional support for people living with national cancer while the location of the Health Community remains on the West Coast.

In 2007, the Institute of Medicine released an important report on the importance of addressing the social and emotional needs of individuals living with cancer, which is a good practice Wellness Community and Gilda's Club has been implemented for many years. Not long after that, in order to better serve more individuals living with cancer, the Health Community and Gilda Club join the Cancer Support Community.

Maps Cancer Support Community

Programs and Services

Support

CSC provides a Tough Cancer Support Helpline that receives calls from patients, families and healthcare professionals seeking information, access to local and national resources, and counseling. The online chat service is also part of support services. CSC also hosts an online support group called the Living Room. Communities including message boards and online support groups are professionally facilitated.

Affiliate Network

The Affiliate Support Cancer Network consists of 42 licensed affiliates, 150 satellite locations and a growing number of health care partnerships. Affiliates provide free programs to anyone affected by cancer, including patients, survivors, caregivers, loved ones and children. These programs include support groups, short-term individual counseling, social activities, resources and referral services, education sessions and health and fitness programs.

Educational Resources

CSC produces serial programs of Continuous Talking About Cancer in several formats to meet the educational needs of patients and families. The series includes eBooks, printed materials, videos, webinars and podcasts.

Online Support

The Living Room is an online CSC support group in the form of message boards and support groups. People affected by cancer can join, post to message boards, or search for support groups.

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Research

The Cancer Support Community established the Research and Training Institute (RTI) to conduct psychosocial, behavioral and survivor research for people living with cancer. The purpose of this study is to provide better resources for cancer-infected individuals.

The Cancer Support Community uses evidence-based interventions to enhance the patient's experience by augmenting the body of psychosocial research, developing educational tools and resources.

Among their major research programs and services are:

CSC's Cancer Experience Registry is an online community that allows people affected by cancer to share their experiences, identify issues that impact their lives, take surveys, and access resources. RTI Group CSC uses information from surveys filled out by participants to improve care for cancer patients and their caregivers, and to develop better services and programs for the community.
CSC offers a decision support counseling program called Open to Options that can help patients prepare appointments where they will make care decisions.
CancerSupportSource is a distress filtering, referral and follow-up program developed and implemented by CSC. It was created to identify specific problems experienced by patients and provide tailored and desired responses.

src: cancersupportmontana.org

Policy and Advocacy

The Cancer Policy Institute at Cancer Support Community works with advisers and friends to advocate for comprehensive mandates, quality cancer treatments including medical care, as well as social and emotional care. The Institute of Cancer Policy has initiatives, training opportunities, learning materials, and events. The CSC Grassroots Advocacy Network is open to anyone to join. Networks provide a place to learn more about key issues that are important to cancer patients and their loved ones, and make a person's voice heard at the local and national level. The CSC's position includes: access to care for all patients, quality as a central theme, and research as a critical priority.

Cancer Support Community Greater St. Louis - 25th Anniversary

src: cancersupportstl.org

Fund Usage

By 2015, the Cancer Support Community reported $ 8,731,796 in net assets at the end of the year. In the same year, CSC reported $ 5,981,094 for a fee. Of these costs, 82% went to programs and services, 9% went to management and general, and 9% went to public fundraising.