Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano is now offering a free program provided by the American Cancer Society to support women with a personal concern about breast cancer. The American Cancer Society's Reach to Recovery is a one-on-one visitation program designed to help women cope with their breast cancer experience. This experience begins at the moment someone is faced with the possibility of a breast cancer diagnosis, and continues throughout the entire period that breast cancer remains a personal concern.
Reach volunteers offer two important services to patients: 1) the understanding and emotional support of someone who's been there, and 2) access to needed information. They serve as positive role models, demonstrating that breast cancer survivors lead active and productive lives.
Reach volunteers, who are also breast cancer survivors, are carefully selected and trained by American Cancer Society representatives. They are matched to patients by diagnosis and treatment, age, and other factors that might contribute to mutual understanding and ease of communication. While some matches may not be perfect, experience with cancer is the most important common bond. The volunteers conduct visits (via phone or in person) and distribute Reach to Recovery kits and materials to patients and survivors. They offer support at various points along this continuum: diagnosis; decision making about treatment; dealing with treatment and its side effects; returning to a full, active life, or confronting any long-term effects – including a possible recurrence of the disease.
Reach volunteers do not offer medical advice, endorse, or refer. They do offer informational materials developed by the Society, and the encouragement and support of someone who has successfully coped with breast cancer. Volunteers are available to speak with patients (in person or by phone) at any time before or after surgery. A physicians order is necessary to set up a visit. Orders can be written on the patients chart while hospitalized.
CONTACT:
Susan Hall
214.820.1817
susanh@baylorhealth.edu
Janeen Browning
469.814.2107
janeenbr@baylorhealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White promotes the health and well-being of every individual, family and community it serves. It is committed to making quality care more accessible, convenient and affordable through its integrated delivery network, which includes the Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, the Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and its leading digital health platform – MyBSWHealth. Through 51 hospitals and more than 1,200 access points, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple, the system offers the full continuum of care, from primary to award-winning specialty care. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White today serves more than three million Texans. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com