NCCS Session at CancerCon 2015 Presents Two Types of Advocacy

This past weekend Kelsey Nepote of NCCS was honored to present a session on patient advocacy at the Stupid Cancer 2015 CancerCon event in Denver. As the largest oncology conference of its kind for the young adult cancer movement, CancerCon brought out hundreds of survivors at different points in the continuum of care, as well as caregivers and loved ones. The NCCS session, titled “The Patient Advocate: Changing Cancer Care in the US,” discussed two types of advocacy—self-advocacy and public advocacy.

In cancer survivorship, advocacy is a continuum. It may begin at the personal level, but along the survivorship journey, self-advocacy efforts may broaden to include first group or organization advocacy, and later may move to public advocacy efforts. For many, advocacy offers some stability and a feeling of regaining some control in life. It’s also a good tool for reaching out to others. For individuals interested in becoming advocates, share your story and connect with us through our email network. For those who were unable to attend the NCCS advocacy session, view the NCCS Session CancerCon 2015 PowerPoint Presentation.

Check out some of our favorite tweets from this year’s meeting:

https://twitter.com/TheALCF/status/592102701460115457

"Advocacy for yourself may be the difference that turns feeling hopeless and helpless into feeling hopeful" @CancerAdvocacy @StupidCancer

— Amber Gillespie (@AmberNGillespie) April 25, 2015

Everyone has a superhero power pose! #cancercon2015 @CancerAdvocacy @CancerCon @kelseynepote pic.twitter.com/BqkSKUnMhv

— Elizabeth Franklin, PhD, MSW (@BiziFranklin) April 25, 2015

Advocacy is the cornerstone of cancer survivorship! @kelseynepote @CancerCon #cancercon2015 @CancerAdvocacy pic.twitter.com/nCUPKrqVzo

— Elizabeth Franklin, PhD, MSW (@BiziFranklin) April 25, 2015

Looking forward to tomorrow's session w/ @BiziHoffler of @preventcancer – our @BreakawayCancer partner

— NCCS – National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (@CancerAdvocacy) April 25, 2015

@BiziHoffler keeping it real this morning. Only 3 cents of every health care $ goes towards prevention. #cancercon pic.twitter.com/isET67jvvP

— kelseynepote (@kelseynepote) April 26, 2015

I wrote a blog post about #CancerCon. Still on a high; they were right! @StupidCancer https://t.co/6q0pQwV0gL

— Melissa (@Melissinthecity) April 27, 2015