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Fast Facts: By My Side™ Voices of Experience Support Network
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What is the By My Side™ Voices of Experience Support Network? |
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The Voices of Experience support network is a new feature of the By My Side™ : Taking Charge of Cancer Treatment program, a multi-media education and support program about the chemotherapy experience. This new feature was developed to address chemotherapy patients' overwhelming need to talk to cancer survivors who have been through similar experiences.
Presented by biotechnology company Amgen in partnership with the non-profit organization Cancer Hope Network, Voices of Experience provides one-on-one support to patients with cancer and their families on a free and confidential basis through trained support volunteers, all of whom are cancer survivors.
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What is the purpose of Voices of Experience? |
Voices of Experience was built on the idea that matching patients with cancer one-on-one with others who had survived similar experiences could help patients in their own battle with cancer.
Having experienced these issues firsthand, the trained volunteers participating in the one-to-one program understand the questions and fears many have while battling cancer and going through difficult treatments like chemotherapy.
A new survey of patients with cancer found that 83 percent report that they felt they needed, but were unable to find, several specific types of help at the time of their cancer diagnosis: talking to other people who had cancer, being able to connect with someone else who had been through a similar experience, and information on what they or their loved ones might experience. In addition, 36 percent of patients with cancer report not having any caregiver to whom they could turn for support.
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Who can
participate? |
Voices of Experience is available free to all patients with cancer and their loved ones at all stages of their cancer experience. It is a good idea for patients to participate prior to beginning treatment. This will allow them to discuss their concerns and ask any questions about the treatment and what to expect. Being prepared for treatment is one of the best ways for patients to take mental and physical control of the experience.
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Who are the support volunteers? |
The support volunteers are cancer survivors who want to help others cope with the disease. They have been off treatment for at least one year, and have gone through training before their first patient contact.
Voices of Experience is not meant to take the place of information or support received from a patient's medical team, and support volunteers are trained to refer patients' questions about medical issues back to their doctors.
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How can patients and their families participate? |
Click here or call 1-866-BY-MY-SIDE (1-866-296-9743) for additional information and to access Voices of Experience. The conversations between patients and support volunteers are free and confidential and generally occur by phone. A patient may talk to as many support volunteers as he or she needs.
Pertinent information, including type of cancer, stage of tumor, type of treatment, side effects experienced, and specific questions or concerns, is collected so that patients or family members can be matched with a volunteer.
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Data shown are reported from a study commissioned by Amgen with two complementary parts and conducted by independent research firms in April and May of 2002. The first part was conducted with a random sample of 301 patients with cancer who had undergone chemotherapy within the past two years. The second part involved a random sample of 152 patients with cancer with caregivers. These patients were currently undergoing or had undergone chemotherapy within the past two years. The results of the studies can be projected to the U.S. population of cancer chemotherapy patients with an error of +/-5 percent.
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