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You are here: Home1 / Resources2 / Publications3 / Remaining Hopeful

Remaining Hopeful

Survivorship is the challenge faced daily by millions of Americans who have a history of cancer. Survivorship, however, is not just about long-term survival. Instead, it is about one’s quality of life from diagnosis onward. It is living with, through, and beyond cancer.

As detection and treatments have improved, many types of cancers have shifted from acute to chronic diseases, and some cancers are now highly curable. The statistics are positive, but numbers do not really tell very much about how persons with cancer survive—physically, psychologically, socially, economically or spiritually. They do not tell us how people with a cancer diagnosis learn to live with fear and uncertainty or how they manage to be hopeful.

Summary Points About How People Hope

  • People hope differently. While hope is individualistic, your own hope strategies are impacted by how your family of origin and your present family use and maintain hope.
  • Families tend to have similarities in the ways they hope, but family hope constellations are not mutually exclusive. For example, you may be religious and academic at the same time.
  • Different types of hope constellations may lead to conflict between the person with cancer and family members or friends. It also can lead to conflict between the patient/family and the health care professionals who care for them, because health care professionals also hope in individual ways.
  • Most people have never thought about “how” they hope. They just assume everyone hopes in the same manner that they themselves do.
  • This does not refer simply to optimism or pessimism, but to the strategies people use to look forward and for maintaining a positive future outlook.
  • Most health care professionals are not trained to do “hope assessments” or to recognize different hoping styles. They often think only in terms of “therapeutic” hope, and equate other hope with denial. This can have a negative impact on your interactions with them and can make you vulnerable to broken hope.
  • It is important to think about your own hoping strategies and to be direct with family, friends and professional caregivers about what is most helpful to you with regard to using and maintaining hope. Never let anyone tell you that there is nothing further to hope for or that there is no hope. There is always something to hope for, and you, as an individual, have the right to determine for what, when and how you hope.
Cancer is a Crisis »

Cancer and Fear »

Remaining Positive »

Family Hope »

Hoping For Health Care Professionals »

View the Full “You Have the Right to be Hopeful” Publication

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Latest News

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NCCS, Cancer Groups Urge CMS to Withdraw Most Favored Nation (MFN) Medicare Part B Rule That Will Harm Patients and Reduce Access to Care

December 22, 2020
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) joined other member organizations…
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https://canceradvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/HHS-Humphrey-bldg-1200.jpg 600 1200 NCCS Staff https://canceradvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NCCA-Logo.png NCCS Staff2020-12-22 20:27:262021-01-04 21:38:15NCCS, Cancer Groups Urge CMS to Withdraw Most Favored Nation (MFN) Medicare Part B Rule That Will Harm Patients and Reduce Access to Care
NCCS Letter to HHS

NCCS Letter to HHS: Proposed Regulatory Review Rule Would Create Unnecessary Uncertainty for Patients

December 9, 2020
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) recently submitted comments…
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https://canceradvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/HHS-Humphrey-bldg-1200-1030x515-1.jpg 515 1030 NCCS Staff https://canceradvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NCCA-Logo.png NCCS Staff2020-12-09 17:30:502020-12-10 08:22:55NCCS Letter to HHS: Proposed Regulatory Review Rule Would Create Unnecessary Uncertainty for Patients
HHS Humphrey bldg 1200

NCCS Opposes Most Favored Nation (MFN) Rule: New Medicare Part B Drug Payment Model Will Harm Patients

December 3, 2020
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) opposes the Most Favored Nation…
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https://canceradvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/HHS-Humphrey-bldg-1200.jpg 600 1200 NCCS Staff https://canceradvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NCCA-Logo.png NCCS Staff2020-12-03 21:26:462020-12-03 21:28:06NCCS Opposes Most Favored Nation (MFN) Rule: New Medicare Part B Drug Payment Model Will Harm Patients

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The Ellen L. Stovall Award for Innovation in Patient-Centered Cancer Care is a unique opportunity for patients and survivors to recognize pioneers who are transforming the cancer care system.

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  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Our History
    • Our Leadership
      • Policy Advisors
    • Employment
    • Partnerships
    • Financial Information
  • Policy
    • Quality Cancer Care
    • Access to Care
    • Health Equity
    • Redefining Functional Status (RFS)
    • 2020 State of Cancer Survivorship Survey
    • Cancer Care Planning and Communications Act (CCPCA)
  • Get Involved
    • What is Advocacy?
    • Cancer Policy and Advocacy Team (CPAT)
    • Elevating Survivorship
    • Survivor Stories
    • Cancerversary
    • State Based Cancer Advocacy
  • Resources
    • Survivorship Checklist
    • Cancer Survival Toolbox
    • Telehealth
    • Publications
      • Talking With Your Doctor
      • Self Advocacy
      • Employment Rights
      • Remaining Hopeful
    • Taking Charge of Your Care
    • Care Planning for Cancer Survivors
    • Tools For Care Providers
    • COVID-19 Resources for Cancer Survivors
    • Order Our Resources
  • News
    • Cancer Convos Podcast
  • Events
    • Ellen L. Stovall Award
      • 2020 Stovall Awards
      • Honorees
      • Sponsors
      • Committees
      • Reception
      • Nominations
    • Cancer Policy Roundtable
      • Fall 2020 Cancer Policy Roundtable
      • Spring 2020 Cancer Policy Roundtable
    • Cancer Policy and Advocacy Team (CPAT) Symposium 2020
    • Webinars
  • Contact Us

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Harmar Brereton, MD

Founder
Northeast Regional Cancer Institute

 

“Perhaps one of the most impactful collaborations in Dr. Brereton’s extraordinary career remains his early work and long friendship with Ellen Stovall. Through him, and in turn through the thousands of lives he has touched, Ellen’s work continues, and her mission lives on.”

—Karen M. Saunders
President, Northeast Regional Cancer Institute