The Cancer Support Community (CSC) focuses on three areas of support: direct service delivery, research, and advocacy. The organization includes an international network of Affiliates that offer social and emotional support for people impacted by cancer, as well as a community of support available online and over the phone. Its Research and Training Institute conducts psychosocial, behavioral and survivorship research. CSC furthers its focus on patient advocacy through the Cancer Policy Institute, informing public policy in Washington D.C. and across the nation. Individual gifts, corporate and foundation contributions, and educational grants are the major sources of support for CSC.

History

The Cancer Support Community formed in 2009 following the merger of The Wellness Community and Gilda's Club The Wellness Community was founded in 1982 by Harold and Harriet Benjamin with Shannon McGowan in

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. They wanted to create something that had previously been missing in cancer care—an organization that would provide social and emotional support to cancer patients, their families, friends and caregivers. Gilda's Club was founded in 1991 in honor of

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comedian and former ovarian cancer patient, Gilda Radner, after her passing, by her husband,

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, and Joanna Bull with other friends and family. Gilda's Club opened locations to provide social and emotional support for people living with cancer nationwide while the Wellness Community locations remained on the West Coast. In 2007 the

Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, E ...

released a pivotal report on the importance of addressing the social and emotional needs of individuals living with cancer, which was a practice both the Wellness Community and Gilda's Club had been implementing for years. Not long after, to be able to better serve more individuals living with cancer, the Wellness Community and Gilda's Club merged to become the Cancer Support Community.

Programs and services

Support

CSC provides a toll-free Cancer Support Helpline which takes calls from patients, families and health professionals seeking information, access to local and national resources, and counseling. An online chat service is also part of the support services. CSC also hosts an online support group called the Living Room. The community includes message boards and professional facilitated online support groups.

Affiliate Network

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

Educational resources

CSC produces the Frankly Speaking About Cancer program series in several formats to meet the educational needs of patients and families. The series includes eBooks, print material, videos, webinars and a podcast.

Online support

The Living Room is CSC's online support group in the form of message boards and support groups. People impacted by cancer can join, post to the message boards, or find a support group.

Research

The Cancer Support Community established the Research and Training Institute (RTI) to conduct

psychosocial The psychosocial approach looks at individuals in the context of the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on their physical and mental wellness and their ability to function. This approach is ...

behavioral Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as well ...

and survivorship research for people living with cancer. The goal of the research is to provide improved resources to individuals touched by cancer. The Cancer Support Community uses evidence-based interventions to improve the patient experience by adding to the body of psychosocial research, developing tools and education resources. Among their key research programs and services are: *CSC's Cancer Experience Registry is an online community that enables people impacted by cancer to share their experiences, identify issues that impact their lives, take surveys, and access resources. CSC's RTI group uses the information from the surveys filled out by participants to improve the care for people with cancer and their

caregivers A caregiver or carer is a paid or unpaid member of a person's social network who helps them with activities of daily living. Since they have no specific professional training, they are often described as informal caregivers. Caregivers most commo ...

, 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 for an appointment in which they will be making a treatment decision. *CancerSupportSource is a distress screening, referral and follow-up program developed and implemented by CSC. It was created to identify the specific concerns experienced by a patient and provide a tailored and desired response.

Policy and advocacy

The Cancer Policy Institute at the Cancer Support Community works with advisors and friends to advocate the mandate that comprehensive, quality cancer care includes medical care, as well as social and emotional care. The Cancer Policy Institute has initiatives, training opportunities, learning materials, and events. CSC's

Grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

Advocacy Network is open to anyone to join. The network provides a place to learn more about key issues that are important to cancer patients and their loved ones, and make one's voice heard at a local and national level. CSC positions include: access to care for all patients, quality as a central theme, and research as a critical priority.

Use of funds

In 2015, the Cancer Support Community reported $8,731,796 net assets at the end of the year. In the same year, CSC reported $5,981,094 on expenses. Of those expenses, 82% went to programs and services, 9% went to management and general, and the other 9% went to general fundraising.

Evaluations and ratings

The Cancer Support Community has received numerous high-level charity ratings including the following: *The

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Exchange Gold Participant distinction *

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4-star rating *The Independent Charities Seal of Excellence *Named a Top Nonprofit Organization by

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References

External links

* Cancer Support Community: http://www.cancersupportcommunity.org * Cancer Experience Registry: http://www.cancerexperienceregistry.org {{Authority control Cancer organizations based in the United States