Yesterday, two prominent cancer support organizations, The Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club, announced they were merging under the new name, “The Cancer Support Community.”  I was honored to have been invited to present on “Social Media: Transforming marketing and outreach in the not-for-profit world” at their annual National Cancer Leadership Conference in Washington, DC.  The program was attended by more then 300 hundred healthcare professionals working in the field of psychosocial oncology.

Here is a snippet from the official press release:

“The Cancer Support Community offerings include a comprehensive menu of personalized and essential services, including support groups, counseling, education and healthy lifestyle programs. Additionally, the organization is working to expand its vital services to meet the urgent needs of cancer patients and their loved ones. To ensure no one has to face cancer alone, these support services will soon be available to people in all 50 U.S. states and internationally through the Cancer Support Community’s network of community-based centers, and at hospitals, community oncology practices and other non-profits, as well as online. The Cancer Support Community is also exploring the use of novel technologies, including mobile, to help extend the reach of these meaningful resources.

The Cancer Support Community is now the largest employer of psychosocial oncology mental health professionals in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the organization includes a network of nearly 50 local Gilda’s Clubs and Wellness Community centers worldwide, more than 100 satellite locations and online support services that extend around the world. For more information about the Cancer Support Community, visit www.cancersupportcommunity.org“.

We have had the pleasure of being The Wellness Community’s technology partner for the past ten years and are so pleased to see these two wonderful organizations join forces to help everyone affected by cancer through their free support and education programs!

Related posts:

1. CNN Highlights Benefits of Cancer Social Networking and Support Website
2. The Virtual Wellness Community Silver Award Winner in the 2007 eHealthcare Leadership Awards
3. Online Cancer Support Just Got Better…
4. Wall Street Journal Highlights our Social Networking Technology Partnership with The Wellness Community
5. GroupLoop.org: Free Online Support and Social Networking Community for Teens with Cancer and Their Parents

This entry was posted on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 6:18 am and is filed under Online Support Groups, Patient Education, The Wellness Community, cancer, consumer health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.