|
Introductory Letter to the Cancer Supportive Care Program |
Dear Colleague:
Thank you for your interest in the Cancer Supportive Care Program. We hope that this Implementation Guide will facilitate the process of starting a similar cancer supportive care program for more comprehensive patient care. Please acquaint yourself with the philosophy behind the Cancer Supportive Care Program (CSCP) through the materials provided.
Starting a cancer supportive care program is much easier than most people would think. It works well within existing organizations, using existing staff and medical professionals. It does not require large amounts of additional resources. Indeed, the cancer supportive care program could conceivably save money by increasing the efficiency in the delivery of care. A cancer supportive care program often provides a time savings to the physicians and nurses in the delivery of patient care. By involving the patients in their own care and educating them about cancer and its treatment, the CSCP can also help in reducing the stress for patients.
What is different about this program is that it requires a shift in thinking about patient care, moving towards a concept of a collaborative medical team approach and empowering the patient to become an active participant in their own treatment and recovery.
The most challenging part of the work is often being able to communicate this shift in treatment concept to colleagues, team members, patients and potential gift donors, many who are only familiar with the traditional medical approach. We hope that our Booklet will facilitate the logistical aspects of the work.
Enclosed you will find materials that will help to you in implementing a similar program at your institution. We have provided copies of our brochures as well templates of important program documents (on disk). These documents can be modified or adapted to suit your purposes and institution. We also have a section on Implementation on our website http://www.cancersupportivecare.com/Program/implement.html, from which documents and educational materials can be downloaded and printed. We have also developed educational videos for patients as well as an extensive book library.
Should you use our materials, graphics, and art templates-we ask only that some acknowledgement of our program be included. For example, "This program is modelled on the Cancer Supportive Care Program at Stanford" or "We wish to thank the
This will require the following Letter of Acceptance Dear CSCP ______________(Hospital/Cancer Center/Organization) wishes to become a member of the Cancer Supportive Care Program. Date ___________ Send to Director of Cancer Supportive Care.com Should you have any questions or need further information, please contact us at the Cancer Supportive Care Program, Stanford Complementary Medicine Clinic, 1101 Welch Road, Building A, Suite 6, Palo Alto, CA 94304, (650) 498-5566, or via our website at http://www.cancersupportivecare.com Our very good wishes for success in developing your own Cancer Supportive Care Program. Sincerely,
Signature _______________
90 25th Ave
San Francisco, CA 94121
Ernest H. Rosenbaum, M.D.