Patient Advocacy @ ECC2015
Developments and innovations in oncology that will lead to better outcomes can only happen by listening to patients. Without actively listening to the needs and wishes of patients, it will be impossible to fully understand and assess whether treatments are effective and this will be particularly important with the growth of personalised medicine.
This is why the ECC2015 Patient Advocacy Track Committee has worked together with the scientific track chairs to enrich the scientific programme with the patient perspective.
Patient advocates will participate in a roundtable discussion on oncology drug development in the era of genomic sequencing and will contribute their views on the evaluation of the clinical benefit of cancer drugs as well as what matters to patients in clinical trials.
The perspective of patients on survivor care will be provided in a scientific symposium looking for ways to make survivor care evidence-based for the growing number of survivors. The European Cancer Congress will re-examine and shed new light on key topics for patients and survivors so that stakeholders can explore areas of collaboration particularly aimed at tackling inequalities in cancer care.
A full session of the Patient Advocacy Track will look at the flow of information between healthcare professionals and patients and address topics like communication skills that facilitate shared decision making, dealing with fear both from a patient and from a healthcare professional perspective, communication on issues of sexuality and all other quality of life angles. A role play will address communication challenges between patients and their employers.
The ECC2015 Patient Advocacy Track will also provide educational opportunities for patient advocates so they can deepen their understanding of topics such as genetic and biomolecular testing, generics and sub-standard drugs.