The Sheri and Les Biller Family Foundation

As we mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Our Co-Founder and President, Sheri Biller, shared her perspective on the importance of expanding access to supportive cancer care – a model of care that treats the whole person, not just the disease. As she writes: “Supportive care must be woven into every cancer journey from day one. That means health systems, insurers, and policymakers working together to make it the standard of care, not a luxury. It means communities coming together, stepping up, sharing information, advocating for change and reaching out to those who may feel left behind. It means people receiving a cancer diagnosis and their caregivers asking their providers about the full suite of services that are available to support them physically, emotionally and financially.” Read more here in the Puget Sound Business Journal: https://lnkd.in/g_WXrH-2 #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth

If just 10% more patients received Supportive Cancer Care as part of their treatment, the U.S. would save an additional $4.6B every year in costs.

Supportive Cancer Care helps patients in their language, on their terms. See how a better support system closes gaps in access, survival, and cost.

As part of our national campaign "Support Is Care," people living with cancer, survivors, current and former caregivers, and cancer care providers are sharing their perspective on the need for equitable access to Supportive Cancer Care in every zip code. Jeanelle – an amazing young woman from New Jersey who survived Stage III breast cancer – is one of them. She shares all that her husband carried as her primary caregiver during her cancer journey, and how for so many people, “There’s no caregiving for the caregiver.” This is why Supportive Cancer Care is also essential for the family and friends who help care for a loved one. I am so grateful to the people around the country who are sharing their stories through Support Is Care. Learn more about our campaign and Supportive Cancer Care here: www.supportiscare.org #SupportIsCare #SupportiveCancerCare #Oncology #CancerCare

All across our country, the new school year is here. Since I first wrote this, I’ve been thinking a lot about the many children and young adults going back to school carrying more than a backpack. Many are carrying the role of caregiver for a parent or other loved one facing cancer. Daily life may look a lot different than it did before. The routine of the school year, afterschool activities, life at home - cancer in a family can disrupt so much of that. Every one of these students and their families should have access to Supportive Cancer Care and the services for caregivers it can provide: Conversations about the goals of care, emotional support, help with transportation and navigating insurance, and more. For these young people, it is not a ’nice-to-have,’ it’s a ‘must-have.'

Lori McFate, MOL is a T-cell lymphoma survivor and cancer care advocate. She is sharing her story as part of our national awareness campaign, Support Is Care, to advance Supportive Cancer Care across the United States. Supportive Cancer Care helps the whole person and their loved ones at every step of the cancer journey. It’s the bridge to their clinical treatment. It addresses the unique needs of each person - from counseling to pain management to navigating care to transportation to appointments to spiritual support - and more. Lori, thank you for all you do every day to share your journey and to advocate for Supportive Cancer Care. As Lori says, Supportive Cancer Care isn’t too much to ask for. It is not a “nice-to-have.” It is a “must-have,” regardless of where you live or receive treatment. www.supportiscare.org