Oral Presentation Cancer Survivorship 2019

How we navigate the health system: A personal perspective (of a patient or caregiver) (#25)

Thit Tieu 1
  1. Sisters Cancer Support Group, NSW, Australia

The words “You’ve Got Cancer” is like a dagger that pierce a person’s heart and immediately turns one’s life upside down. As a cancer survivor, Mrs Thit Tieu will be sharing her personal experiences in dealing with her cancer diagnosis, treatment and her survivorship. She touches on her encounters with health professionals covering both the positive and negative aspects during her diagnosis and treatment.

Thit will also talk about the observations she made with regards to the gap that exists for the multicultural cancer patients in their survivorship journey after treatment, leading on to the actions she took to minimise this gap in her own way by setting up the Illawarra based not-for profit organisation “Sister’s Cancer Support Group Inc.”.

The talk emphasizes the importance of clear understanding and consideration of Culture, Language and Faith traditions in the provision of Survivorship Services. It concludes with some pointers on the strategies that have been most helpful in getting the message across with some suggestions on the best way to provide the cancer survivorship support services to the multicultural communities.