Clinician education project - your help needed

[TheOvacomeTeam]

Dear All

We are developing a project that will educate clinicians and other practicing healthcare professionals about ovarian cancer from a patient perspective, with the aim to improve patient experience for all.

We will also be highlighting the experience of underrepresented groups who experience barriers accessing care, information and support. If you are in one of the groups below and feel that you have experienced barriers please get in touch.

Groups that are underrepresented within the ovarian cancer community are:

those diagnosed under the age of 44, or over the age of 70;

LGBTQ+ people;

those whose first or preferred language is not English;

those who are not White British;

those on a low income;

those who are rurally isolated or being treated away from a major cancer centre.

Barriers could be difficulty accessing or getting to diagnostic appointments or treatment, not being listened to by healthcare professionals, not having understandable, accessible information about ovarian cancer, avoiding healthcare settings or support services due to discrimination or not being represented.

The project will involve being filmed talking about your experience. You must be UK based for this. If you are not comfortable being filmed, we welcome quotes on your experience which we can include anonymously.

If this resonates with you and you are interested in taking part, please email us at [e-mail] and we will discuss the project in more detail with you.

Many thanks as always for your help.

Best wishes

The Ovacome Team

[Neona]

I was hoping rarer cancers would be on the list - I could have died because of lack of knowledge about clear cell. Maybe for another project?

[OvacomeSupport Partner My Ovacome Team in reply to Neona]

Dear Neona,

Thank you very much for taking time to respond to this post and for your feedback. We are very sorry to hear about your experience. If you weren’t treated at a major centre and if you felt that was a barrier to getting the treatment you needed, we would really like to hear about your experience for this project.

You may already be aware of this, but we have a rarer cancer support group for those diagnosed with an ovarian cancer that is not high grade serous. This group is an opportunity to meet others, ask questions and share experiences in a friendly and supportive space. Here is a link to some more information about the group: ovacome.org.uk/event/rarer-...

Please do get in touch with our support team if you would like to discuss this further. You can call us on Support Line on 0800 008 7054 or 07503 682311, email us at [e-mail] or use the Instant Chat function on our website. All our services are available Monday – Friday, 10am – 5pm.

Best wishes,

Cathryn

Support Services

[koffeekat99]

HiJust wondering which parts of the healthcare system this will be aimed at?

My experience was different in primary care and general gyny to my experience in gyny oncology.

I’d have different things to say depending on who it was aimed at.

In primary care its more about getting them to look at the person in front of them and to take them seriously.

In secondary care its more about raising awareness that the systems (especially supporting systems) are set up with particular assumptions that don’t always apply to all patients and can impact on us in different ways.

Thanks

[OvacomeSupport Partner My Ovacome Team in reply to koffeekat99]

Hi katfish,

Thank you very much for your response.

The training is for all healthcare professionals and so we would be really interested in talking to you more. If you would like us to contact you to discuss this further and to find our more about the project, please email us at [e-mail].

Best wishes,

Cathryn

Support Services