Gilda’s Club and CSC in the News
Gilda’s Club and the Cancer Support Community distress screening tool and support resources featured in the Wall Street Journal.
The August 29, Wall Street Journal article, “To Treat the Cancer, Treat the Distress” is the result of months of work by many individuals. It highlights the Cancer Support Community(CSC), Gilda’s Club Minnesota national affiliate, distress screening tool, CancerSupportSource. CancerSupportSource is a comprehensive program that leverages technology to screen patients for social and emotional concerns and provides personalized referral and follow-up care for each individual.
The article, circulated to more than two million readers, emphasizes the need for distress screening and features the CSC as a nonprofit organization that offers support services through its affiliate locations throughout the United States. Kim Thiboldeaux (CSC CEO) is quoted as saying, “the resources to help cancer patients deal with distress already exist in communities across America, so cancer centers don’t have to hire a whole new psychosocial staff.”
CancerSupportSource is mentioned throughout the article as a:
- New distress screening and referral program developed by the nonprofit Cancer Support Community.
- Web-based, 25-item questionnaire that asks patients to rate concerns in seven categories and identifies the type of support they want to receive, such as group meetings or one-on-one counseling.
- Resource that links to helpful websites or written information, and is recommended by the Commission on Cancer.
Cindy Dalen is highlighted as someone who benefited from CancerSupportSource, and completed the questionnaire from home. It continues to discuss how CancerSupportSource found that she had been struggling with depression, financial worries and hair loss – and how she ended up being treated for depression and attended group sessions at a Cancer Support Community center, where she connected with a financial adviser and someone who helped her with a wig.