Cancer Survivorship: You’re Never Really Done
When the Imperatives of Quality Cancer Care were written by NCCS 20 years ago, one principle of quality care stated that, “Long-term survivors should have access to specialized follow-up clinics that focus on health promotion, disease prevention, rehabilitation, and identification of physiologic and psychological problems. Communication with the primary care ...
Reflections on Cancer Survivors Day: Managing Survivorship for a Lifetime
On Sunday, June 7th, we are reminded by cancer centers to celebrate National Cancer Survivors Day®. Today, there are a sea of colors for different cancer ribbons and wristbands, e.g., the ubiquitous pink for breast cancer, amber for bladder cancer, grey for brain cancer, yellow for all cancers, and so ...
Honoring Phyllis Torda, a Fierce Advocate for Patient-Centered Health Care
The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), notes with sadness the passing of Phyllis Torda, a fierce advocate for patient-centered health care for more than 25 years. We at NCCS first came to know Phyllis when she was with Families USA as their Director of their Health and Social policies ...
The Impetus for Creating the “Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care”
The impetus for creating an issue paper entitled "Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care" (Imperatives) came from a desire for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) to have a snapshot of the state of both the art and science of quality cancer care for people diagnosed with cancer across three domains—psychosocial ...
NCCS Responds to Two Recent Articles Covering the Complexities of Transparency and Shared Decision-Making Issues
Two stories in last week’s New York Times illustrate the complexities of the changing healthcare marketplace. They both describe discrete issues that beleaguer and hinder the transparency and shared decision-making that we at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) call for when patients need to make an informed decision ...
NCCS Senior Health Policy Advisor Ellen Stovall Responds to Susan Gubar’s “The Cost of Trials”
Susan Gubar's voice as a woman living with ovarian cancer (The New York Times Well Blog, March 20, 2014) clearly describes the dilemma of how to manage some of the most distressing features facing people who want to participate in a cancer clinical trial—namely access to these trials and the matters associated ...
NCCS Senior Policy Advisor Responds to Opinionator “A Plan to Fix Cancer Care”
NCCS Senior Policy Advisor Ellen Stovall’s advice for immediate reform of cancer care was published in a letter to the editor of the New York Times on April 1, 2013. Letters from Ms. Stovall and four other writers commented on an opinion piece by Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel and others, ...
