Lived Experience in Cancer Care and Research
Patient engagement significantly enhances cancer care and research, as seen in the Patient and Family Engagement program.
This program allows patients and caregivers to share their experiences, providing valuable insights on how to improve patient care.
The program has expanded to match patient advocates with researchers, aiming to design more authentic and participant-friendly clinical trials and studies.
Some patients become advocates because everything went right, while others get involved because something went very, very wrong.
For example, Brandelyn Bergstedt, director of Fred Hutch Cancer Center’s Patient Experience Program, became a patient advocate after a personal experience with a misdiagnosis during pregnancy.
Author's summary: Patient engagement improves cancer care and research through patient advocacy.