Back in 2013 I wrote a short post on “Why Cancer Patients Seek Support Outside the Hospital Walls”. It was back then a way for me to acknowledge the growing trend of more and more cancer patients seeking complementary services to their medical care with practitioners not affiliated with their main care place. 

The need of both cancer patients and caregivers to seek support outside the hospital walls is still strong but patients face the challenge of sorting through an overwhelming amount of information in order to decide who is genuine and what may be beneficial.

In a world where every practitioner has a website, YouTube channel, and an arsenal of Social Media outlets available, how do you sort through this maze of resources, methods and titles?

It’s interesting (for me) to observe how many of my clients intuitively resolved this overwhelm of information. Yes, they will do their research online, but the defining factor in their decision making process is more personal. At least in my case, they found out about the work I do through the original form of solid marketing, to good-all method of word-of-mouth.

The human factor, the same one that prompted them to seek support outside of the hospital walls is THE guiding factor in their decision making process about complementary treatments. The bottom line is when you provide a valuable service people talk about it. They share their thoughts and experience with those connected to them through all those amazing points of online access I mentioned before.

I find the swinging of the ‘information’ pendulum fascinating. It gives me, as a practitioner hope that those who need the kind of support I offer will be able to find it.

The Problem with Free Cancer Support Resources

Would you attend a free cancer wellness event in your community? Having offered many such events over the past 10 years my conclusion is that for the most part patients and caregivers associate free events with little or no value.

For me, free resources/events were a way to give back to the community. Reach people that could not otherwise afford being a paid client. These events however are usually poorly attended. Many times no one showed up.

We’ve all been taught in one way or another that you can only get value when you’re paying for it but it’s sad really. There has to be a way for you to find support for a low or no cost at all. There has to be aa way for you to find help outside the hospital walls because, well, life happens outside these walls.

If you are a patient or a caregiver, you know the hospital environment can be isolating. You know that what takes place inside the Chemo Suite is quite different from outside everyday life.

My hope in offering support outside the hospital walls was to address one of the greatest challenges for anyone emerging from the cancer journey, which is to settle back into their daily living.

I am curious, as a practitioner to learn how to better support you and others during this period of time. Do you have a suggestion for me?

If you wish to find out more about events happening this month visit our Calendar.