Lessons learned and relearned
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I have the privilege of serving as 2021-2022 president of Association of Community Cancer Centers, a community of more than 30,000 multidisciplinary health care professionals engaged in the delivery of quality cancer care across the U.S.
As an oncology social worker and as ACCC president, I am awed and humbled by the oncology community — providers, patients, caregivers and others—and their dedication, innovation and resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
In oncology — one of the most dynamic areas of medicine — change is constant.
Over recent decades, the oncology community has gained tremendous knowledge of the many diseases that comprise cancer. In turn, these advances have led to significant improvements in prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment, although not all segments of the population have benefitted equally.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been an unanticipated source of new knowledge for the oncology community. It also fueled a call to action.
As a community of cancer programs, ACCC has focused its education and advocacy work on three objectives driven by experiences during the pandemic’s first year:
· Health equity and social justice are critical drivers of quality cancer care, and we need practice-based solutions that reduce barriers and improve health outcomes;
· The need for high-reach, high-impact psychosocial and supportive care services is escalating, and we need innovative care delivery models that demonstrate measurable value to the oncology ecosystem; and
· For practice sustainability, as well as for provider and patient satisfaction, we must strengthen a culture that supports health care professionals’ well-being and resilience.
For health professionals who care for patients with cancer, the challenges and unknowns unleashed by COVID-19 have brought forward the oncology community’s powerful capacity for outreach, connection, collaboration and communication.
Despite the disparities, disruptions and devastation of the pandemic for our society and health care system, the oncology community — along with other health care organizations — never faltered in its commitment to sustaining quality cancer care delivery.
The cancer care team knows that cancer does not take a timeout for a pandemic. During the height of the pandemic — prior to availability of vaccines, when safety precautions and travel restrictions were most stringent — access to cancer treatment close to home became essential for vulnerable patients and their loved ones.
During my term as ACCC president, I have listened to the challenges faced by cancer care team members from communities large and small. In these conversations, I also have heard these dedicated professionals describe how humbled we all have been by patients’ adaptability, deep appreciation and patience.
In many respects, COVID-19 has held a mirror up to our communities, revealing our strengths, weaknesses, and glimpses of new possibilities in health care. These include delivery models—like telehealth—that support equity, collaboration, communication, and compassion. Among the lasting lessons from COVID-19 are these.
- Sharing yields more progress than working in siloes;
- Connections make us stronger;
- Health is everyone’s responsibility;
- Vulnerability is not weakness; and
- Communities can effect change.
Moving into 2022, ACCC is committed to putting what we have learned from COVID-19 into action to elevate equitable cancer care delivery with deliberate attention to the community, connection, compassion and recognition that vulnerability opens a pathway to greater resilience.
For more information:
Krista Nelson, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW, is president of Association of Community Cancer Centers. She also is program manager of quality and research, cancer support services and compassion for Providence Cancer Institute. She can be reached at krista.nelson@providence.org.
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