Do you know someone who was diagnosed with cancer? It’s very possible. Forty percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in our lifetimes. When thinking about the cancer journey, most people think of radiation, chemotherapy—maybe even the hair loss that comes with chemo.
But there is so much more than the medical aspect of cancer. In addition to the oncology professionals that care for a cancer patient, there are a host of other people on the extended cancer care team. Family, friends, social workers, mental health professionals, spiritual counselors, nutritionists, physical therapists and even insurance providers, to name a few.
Think of the coordination required to keep that team running at optimal levels. For someone going through the cancer journey, it is overwhelming. Recognizing that patients and their families need to focus on their quality of life, we saw a need that homecare could fill—on many fronts. Cancer care is a program designed to ease the burden of cancer patients and their families by providing compassionate, high-quality homecare services throughout the cancer journey—from treatment to post-surgery recovery, treatment, remission, palliative care or end-of-life care.
When an individual living with cancer adds a caregiver to their care team, they have an attentive, experienced, professional in the home to help with meal preparation, mobility around the house, bathing, dressing and transportation to the myriad of follow-up appointments. In addition, given the time one must dedicate to their treatment and recovery, simply having the additional companionship of a caregiver can provide both comfort and a much-needed distraction.
Families have peace of mind that someone is providing a superior level of care to address their loved one’s complex care needs. This can include mobility assistance, medication reminders, picking up prescriptions, arranging for or providing transportation to appointments, support during medical treatments, light housekeeping and meal planning/preparation. It can even extend to backup childcare and pet care. Assistance with all these tasks can free up family member time so they can focus on being there for their loved ones.
For agency owners, focusing on homecare’s important contribution to the cancer care team creates an opportunity to market their services to health care providers as a higher touch solution, with a focus on a collaborative approach to care.
Our industry can be an integral component of the cancer care team across the broad continuum of cancer care partners. We can provide personalized care that is focused on our client’s safety, healing and recovery, while supporting their family members, too.
Having a specialized cancer care program underscores the vital role homecare providers can play for countless people affected by cancer. Together, we can ease the burden of cancer by providing compassionate home-based non-medical care to enhance quality of life for clients and their families.