The Power of Hope

Talking to your patients about hope is one of the most difficult conversations, but it is also one of the most important. People hope differently; hope is individualistic. You Have The Right To Be Hopeful will encourage your patients and survivors to think about how they hope and to use strategies to look forward and maintain a positive future outlook.

Survivorship is the challenge faced daily by millions of Americans who have a history of cancer. Current statistics note that nearly 10 million people are cancer survivors. Today, more than 62 percent of all persons with cancer are living five years after diagnosis. Survivorship, however, is not just about long-term survival. Instead, it is about quality of life from diagnosis onward. It is living with, through and beyond cancer.

As detection and treatments have improved, many types of cancers have shifted from acute to chronic diseases, and some cancers are now highly curable. The statistics are positive, but numbers do not really tell very much about how people diagnosed with cancer survive—physically, psychologically, socially, economically or spiritually. They do not tell us how people with a cancer diagnosis learn to live with fear and uncertainty or how they manage to be hopeful.

Sections in this publication include:

Hoping For Health Care Professionals »