September 25, 2024 • 23 mins
To continue the conversation on navigating the emotional and social needs of cancer patients, Amy Sutton, CEO, and Katherine Scheibel, Senior Director of Program and Impact of Crossroads4Hope join the conversation. Discussing the importance of expanding cancer care from solely physical to holistic healthcare including emotional, social and behavioral needs.
Amy and Katherine share their profound experiences with cancer that propelled them to Crossroads4Hope and how it has evolved into a beacon of support for countless families.
Listen and Learn:
- How holistic cancer care directly translates to improving quality of life, lowering the cost of care and ensuring better health outcomes
- A community-rooted approach and how it complements traditional research and treatment
- How the organization has integrated technology via the MyGo2Support program to expand and support its community outside of the physical space
Hosts
- Bob Gold, Chief Behavioral Technologist, GoMo Health
- Shelley Schoenfeld, Chief Strategist, GoMo Health
Featured Guests
- Amy Sutton, CEO, Crossroads4Hope
- Katherine Scheibel, Senior Director of Program and Impact, Crossroads4Hope
Catch Part 1 of the series if you haven't already!
Thanks for tuning in. Subscribe today to receive alerts of new weekly episodes and follow @GoMoHealth on social for the latest in healthcare engagement.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
My brother had Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Yeah, he had an 18-month battlewith the disease and, honestly,
he was off pretty well.
So things took a turn for theworse and our family has been
healing for 17 years since.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
There are times in the world and in life when a
discovery changes how we dothings.
Hi, I'm Shelley Schoenfeld.
Join me and my podcast partner,behavioral technologist Bob
Gold, on this journey ofdiscovery as we unfold a whole
person health delivery sciencefor people in need.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
Delivered.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
(00:46):
Delivered.
This is Episode 2 aboutCrossroads for Hope, a nonprofit
resource based in New Jerseyand operating in 44 states, as
it grows internationally.
We just heard from KatherineScheibel, the Senior Director of
Program and Impact.
Bob sat down with Katherine andAmy Sutton recently and they
shared with us how they work tohelp cancer patients maintain a
healthy mindset after diagnosisand all the way through
(01:10):
treatment and recovery.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
My name is Amy Sutton , ceo of Crossroads for Hope.
It's been quite a journey.
You know, when you're goingthrough life, you don't really
know where you're leading andwhen you look back, somehow it
all makes sense.
And so for me, I started inindustry, in human resources,
helping organizations transformand change and help people
(01:36):
through that change.
But, like a lot of people,after 9-11, life seemed very
different and a lot of us werelooking for meaning after that
experience.
So I left corporate life andreally started to think about
what I wanted to do.
And I came upon hospice.
And when you talk about change,end of life is the most
(01:57):
significant change that all ofus face, and those are the two
things birth and death are thethings we're all going to
experience.
Those are the two things birthand death are the things we're
all going to experience.
So I worked in thatorganization for three years.
It was an amazing experienceand a privilege to be part of
people's lives at that point intheir journey, and I think what
that experience taught me inseeing how people came to
(02:20):
hospice, was how broken thehealthcare system is and how
ill-prepared so many people arebecause of that for this very
important time in their life andtheir family's life, and what I
think happens is when weshortchange people's experiences
at that phase, we don't givepeople time to do the work that
(02:41):
needs to happen for themselvesand their families, and it
leaves people with questionsabout their loved one's death,
that experience, and that canlast for generations, especially
if it's a bad death.
So you know, moving forward, Ileft there and went into the Red
Cross and handled some of thelargest disaster relief
(03:01):
operations in New Jersey priorto Sandy.
What do you do for people whoare facing a crisis and even now
in cancer, and what I'velearned is you have to treat the
whole person.
So, both in hospice care and atthe Red Cross, mental health
and health services go hand inglove and you don't see that as
effectively done in day-to-dayhealthcare operations.
(03:32):
I think it's really importantthat we leverage all professions
required to help people througha crisis, to move through a
crisis and to know how to eventake the first step forward,
because no one is prepared.
No one is prepared for death,even though we know we're all
going to face it.
No one is prepared for disasterand no one is prepared for
cancer, and so, therefore,social work and medical
professionals have to worktogether to deal with all the
(03:53):
issues that people face, notjust treatment of disease.
So coming to this organization,crossroads for Hope, has been
an amazing experience because wehave the opportunity to allow
social work to operate at thetop of its license and it's a
powerful thing and it'stransformative in people's lives
(04:13):
.
Or I always have to preface whatI say.
I'm not a social worker, but Iso appreciate the discipline
because their approach is tomeet people where they are in
their life, in the context oftheir family and their lived
environment, and to reallyapproach them as human beings
who have emotional, social andpractical needs.
(04:34):
And when you hear the wordcancer before treatment ever
starts, your worry and fearcomes from the fact that you're
thinking about your mortalityand no one is prepared for that.
So you have to get through thatto be able to access resources
to go through treatment and tobe able to advocate for the best
health care that you canpossibly have.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
My name is Katherine Scheibel.
I'm the Senior Director ofProgram and Impact with
Crossroads for Hope, a networkof cancer support.
I do think it's nice to kind offrame this conversation with my
story and what really led me tosocial work, because I was
thinking about where it allbegan, and I think it started,
honestly, before I even knew itas a very young person.
(05:19):
I grew up in a household wheremy parents were both involved
with primary medicine.
My father is a lifelong dentistand so, having exposure to the
medical community, I oftenaspired to be a part of this
world.
But you know, I also justalways wanted to be a helper.
I often found myself puttingothers first, being the friend
that let people cut in line andget to the food in the cafeteria
(05:41):
before me, or driving someonehome the extra mile to make sure
they got home safe, right.
So those values have alwayssort of been instilled in me,
with a passion to lead by giving, but honestly, fast forward.
My family was personallyimpacted by a lot of loss at an
early kind of phase in life.
My brother had cancer and hedied from cancer when he was 21.
(06:04):
And I was 17, going on tocollege during a huge life
transition and again, thisperson who kind of had an
interest in science but apassion to give and heal.
I was at a crossroads myselfand truly just stumbled upon
social work 101 and the rest ishistory.
(06:24):
My brother had Hodgkin'slymphoma.
Yeah, he had an 18-month battlewith the disease and, honestly,
he was off pretty well.
So things took a turn for theworse and our family has been
healing for 17 years since.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Amy.
So tell us a little bit abouthow'd you come up with the name
Crossroads for Hope and how youeven started that, or how you
got to cancer care.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
We had been on a journey as an organization.
We were started by four womenin the community, all of whom
had professional and personalconnections to cancer.
We started as an organizationnamed Hope Springs, and they
were guided very early on toaffiliate with a national
organization.
And then, in 2021, we made thedecision to venture out on our
(07:14):
own because we believed in adifferent approach to how these
services needed to be delivered.
Oftentimes, when people arefaced with a crisis, they are at
a crossroads.
They're not sure whichdirection to start moving in and
, besides the fact that ourstreet name is Crossroads, it
struck us that that is verysymbolic of a health crisis like
(07:39):
cancer.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Tell us a little bit about where Crossroads for Hope
fits into a cancer journey.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
So I'd like to frame my answer by talking about the
cancer landscape, because it'svery complicated.
The way I would suggest peoplethink about it is, if you think
about a pyramid, a triangle, atthe top are those organizations
focused on research curingdisease, and there's many
organizations playing in thatspace.
(08:09):
In the middle of the pyramidyou have those organizations
treating disease and at thefoundation, the largest part of
that pyramid, is the communityand that's where we live.
We work with all of thosestakeholders across all of those
types of organizations, but weare rooted in community.
So how do people find us?
We receive referrals fromhealthcare providers and other
(08:32):
organizations asking for us tosupport their patients and
families.
People find us searching theinternet.
They find us through word ofmouth and I will tell you
categorically almost everybodythat I meet that we've served
has told me that they had wishedthey had found us sooner and,
(08:54):
as a leader, it's heartbreakingto hear that, because you
understand that people aresuffering emotionally and you
want to relieve that burden.
So we're doing everything wecan to make sure that we can get
to people sooner.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I found myself traveling abroad.
I spent a lot of time in SouthAmerica.
There I found my now husbandfrom Ecuador, and I lived there
on and off throughout thecultural intersection between
invulnerable communities.
And so I turned to do mymaster's in social work at
(09:43):
Boston University, and most ofmy practice was within the
domestic violence field.
So I had been doing a lot oftrauma-informed care, working as
a civil advocate, obtainingrestraining orders for women
primarily women but also workingin after-school programs for
children who were either childwitnesses or victims of domestic
(10:05):
violence, and so that is thefoundation of my clinical
practice and background.
And I moved home to New Jerseyand was looking for jobs and
honestly kind of felt like Iwanted to keep cancer oncology
at distance, because what theyteach you in school is
everything about boundaries andtransference or
(10:28):
counter-transference right,which is this process that you
know things can come up.
We're human beings, we come tothis work with our own baggage,
and so I felt like it wasn't theright move for a while to get
into cancer although it wasalways something that was like
in the back of my head and so Itook a leap of faith, I found
Crossroads for Hope, and it'sbeen my home now ever since, for
(10:48):
nine years.
So I was doing outreach,building partnerships and
bridges within schools anddelivering age and
developmentally appropriateservices to teenage kids who
were impacted by cancer anotherthing that I completely
understand from a personal level.
And then we began to buildcapacity around that right.
We hired a child lifespecialist, for example, to be
(11:09):
the lead discipline to be ableto fully support that
demographic, and then the samegoes for our public health
outreach.
So we've expanded into workingin partnership boots on the
ground with grassrootsorganizations churches, schools,
social service agencies toalign our mission with others,
to begin really forcemultiplying what we do in a more
(11:31):
culturally humble and sensitiveway.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
That's a great journey.
It's so nice to see the growthand the pathway.
So, in that continuous journeyto do that and keep on improving
and getting better, when didyou guys come up with the idea
of my go-to support and how didthat happen?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
It's hard to believe that technology really wasn't a
part of our practice prior tothe pandemic, but we always
envision technology playing arole in meeting the needs
directly into the pockets ofpeople when and where they are
needing us the most Right.
So I think about historically,when we were primarily an
in-person model.
(12:13):
I would witness firsthand, byfacilitating support groups,
people coming and coming andcoming and then they leave and
then they get sick and then theydrop off a group and they don't
come back again and we losetouch with them, and there's a
process involved with being ableto address that from a
psychosocial perspective withthe groups, right.
(12:34):
There's other examples, likepeople would leave our yoga
class and be friends, they wouldmeet up, they would go for
lunch, they would do their thing.
Right, the work continuesoutside the four corners of this
screen.
So the pandemic hit.
We were introduced to you, gomoHealth, and I think, in
combination of your expertise inbehavioral science and our
(12:58):
understanding of psychosocialsupport and timely interventions
, we were able to align thisproject to underwrite your
product with our program, myGo-To Support.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And integrate it into your whole psychosocial support
program.
So it kind of gives me a littlegoosebumps there.
Tell us a little bit moredetailed on the workflows, sure.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
We've built a workflow around now having this
as an enabler to our wraparoundservices.
So it's a point of entry.
When people are referred to us,either by a provider or self,
we deploy a welcome message toour community and encourage them
to enroll into my go-to support.
That's the opt-in model, right?
(13:44):
So this is because we've builtthis program around a
community-based model.
We encourage them to start ourservices by beginning with my
go-to support.
So immediately they receive awelcome message, right.
They understand the terms andconditions and they begin
receiving one to three textmessages a week based on where
they are in their own cancerjourney what we would call a
persona, right?
So we have certain messagesthat are tailored to folks who
(14:06):
are either newly diagnosed or insurvivorship or having a
recurrence, or if they're acaregiver or in bereavement or a
parent right, so on and soforth.
And on a weekly basis they arebeing asked how are they doing?
Through a survey that is rootedin the NCC undistressed screener
and the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9, whichare validated assessments for
(14:30):
risk for depression.
So, based on how people answersome of those questions, it
becomes a bidirectionalengagement, right.
And we have escalations builtin to triage to our clinical
team, so that we know thatwithin 24 hours, if someone is
in an increased distress basedon either a social, emotional,
(14:51):
practical or physical issue, oursocial work team reaches out
and then that relationshipbegins to build, you know.
So now we've delivered a timelyintervention, we're building
trust and rapport with thisperson.
They know we're here for them,not just.
You know their mobile device,and we're preventing the fact
that distress doesn't becomereally the ultimate barrier for
(15:13):
them accessing care.
And so, you know, the journeycontinues from there.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And I think we always need to focus on a program like
Crossroads for Hope.
My go to support everythingyou're doing could bring some of
that back and to your point is,if you want to feel good as an
oncologist or radiationtherapist, helping the person
from a whole life perspectiveand seeing them more successful
(15:38):
or in their journey is a goodfeeling, right.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Absolutely yeah, and we know that, like nearly a
hundred percent of peopleimpacted by cancer or some sort
of chronic disease needs somelevel of basic access to
resources or education, aconnection to information that
will help empower them education, a connection to information
that will help empower them takecontrol of their disease.
(16:06):
But as you go kind of down thescale and think about like 10%
at least of people who aredealing with cancer are going to
need clinical intervention,maybe a little more than that,
say about 30% of people needsome sort of just tailored
psychosocial support.
So when you start to look atthose percentages of people in
the general community, we cannow kind of have an
understanding of who needs themost support and get them into
(16:26):
the hands of the professionalswho are capable of supporting
them the most.
That way, social workers areworking top of license and the
satisfaction not only comes fromknowing that they're taken care
of by the work of technology onthe outskirts of their clinical
care, but also the satisfactionof knowing we need better
methods and we need to focus onpeople being mentally and
(17:01):
physically healthy at home,self-care, family care,
community care.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Not just we're going to give the doctor a hundred
bucks for the visit, thinkingthat the doctor is going to
solve the person's problem athome.
And employers are starting toget more active in that as well.
Right, Because they also dealwith double-digit folks
typically percent of theirpopulation going through a
(17:27):
cancer journey and folks intheir family, which causes,
besides all the health humantoll and cost, absenteeism,
productivity retention.
So I think an organization likeCrossroads for Hope can be used
by employers as really part oftheir whole benefits package and
(17:48):
that would be, I think, awonderful thing.
Because I'm sure maybe you getpeople talking about, let's say,
a woman with breast cancerwho's working, two kids, how
does she support the family andwhat's her brand?
Now you talk about personas,but what's their self-perceived
brand of who they are now?
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Integration of psychosocial support services is
the standard of care.
We're all challenged with howto do that because these
delivery mechanisms are old.
That's why we've been workingto bring them into the 21st
century.
They also amplify the effortsof medical professionals,
because if people have socialneeds like depression, they lack
financial wherewithal or theydon't have it, they're
(18:36):
underinsured, or they don't havetransportation or they have
unstable housing, they can'tengage in their health care
effectively.
So those are the issues.
The non-medical issues are whatwe deal with so that patients
can focus on their treatment andcare.
So our job is to make it easierfor health care professionals
so that they can focus on thethings that they do and they
(18:57):
have an activated patient with asupport system through their
family, which is why we care forthe family to be able to access
and stay in care.
And the other thing that I wouldsay is it's really important
you know I saw this in hospice.
You know the nurse would come inand that individual understood
if there was emotional issuesgoing on in the house.
You know the nurse would come inand that individual understood
(19:18):
if there was emotional issuesgoing on in the house.
They listened, they took thatinformation, but they were not
responsible to respond to that.
They had a social worker theycould turn that over to and knew
that that person would followup and take care of it.
And when the social worker wentin, they saw medical related
issues.
They understood that.
They reported that back to theteam and the medical
(19:38):
professional followed up andwhat that does is that gives
people breathing room to do thework that they're trained and
educated to do and not have todo every single job that's
needed.
So we complement what'shappening in the medical space
and we understand the challengesthat medical professionals are
under right now the pressure,lack of staffing there's just a
(19:59):
multitude of different issues.
Our job is to make it easierand to make sure that we're
addressing what we feel is notbeing effectively addressed
anywhere, which is the personand their needs that help them
live every day in the face ofthis disease.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Well said.
Now, from a health planperspective, I mean, it's a very
similar statement, but if youwere talking to health plan
besides what you just said,would there be anything else you
would want to comment on?
Speaker 4 (20:29):
Well, if you want to manage the cost of care and have
better outcomes, you have tohelp people manage their
distress and their life, andit's a bottom line issue when we
are talking to the businessside of this industry.
This is about improvingpeople's quality of life,
lowering the cost of care andensuring that we have better
(20:49):
health outcomes for people.
And by ignoring how people feelor the challenges that they're
living with through this disease, it does a disservice to the
individuals and families, aswell as the whole system.
It's a burden on the systembecause people overuse care when
they're distressed, or theydon't comply with their
medication and or they have astressed caregiver in the home
(21:11):
and can't get to their treatmentright.
So it's just baffling to me whywe only talk about the physical
.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Bob.
Crossroads for Hope, againbased in central New Jersey, is
serving patients and caregivers,all at no cost to them, in 44
states and growinginternationally.
As Amy Sutton says, everyoneshould have access to this as a
standard of care.
I have to say, after listeningto these stories from Crossroads
for Hope and from the peoplethat they help and their
(21:45):
families, based on personalexperience and I've
unfortunately been through thistwice with my mom two bouts of
cancer it's really, really notjust about the physical.
It's not about my mom walkingto the bathroom at two in the
morning holding on to myshoulders because she couldn't
walk on her own.
It's about the, the emotionaland the support that everybody
(22:08):
needs and and it's the persondiagnosed and it's the family
members too let's take a momentabout the words my go-to support
.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
We would all love to be supported 24 by 7 in our
daily life, at Homework and Play, whether we have cancer, don't
have cancer, have challenges,don't believe we have challenges
.
Isn't it great to have aprogram and system that listens,
learns and helps us in our timeof need?
(22:39):
So I ask all of you to pleasesupport Crossroads for Hope.
Make a donation, volunteer, getactive and help them expand the
work to help families goingthrough cancer and people served
throughout the United States ofAmerica.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Thanks, bob, and thanks so much Catherine and Amy
.
We look forward to expanding myGoToSupport and continuing to
collaborate to help more peoplefacing the uniquely difficult
diagnosis of cancer.
For more information, pleasevisit gomohealthcom.
Human Resilience Changing theWay Healthcare is Delivered.
My brother had Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Yeah, he had an 18-month battlewith the disease and, honestly,
he was off pretty well.
So things took a turn for theworse and our family has been
healing for 17 years since.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
There are times in the world and in life when a
discovery changes how we dothings.
Hi, I'm Shelley Schoenfeld.
Join me and my podcast partner,behavioral technologist Bob
Gold, on this journey ofdiscovery as we unfold a whole
person health delivery sciencefor people in need.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
Delivered.
Welcome to Human ResilienceChanging the Way Healthcare is
(00:46):
Delivered.
This is Episode 2 aboutCrossroads for Hope, a nonprofit
resource based in New Jerseyand operating in 44 states, as
it grows internationally.
We just heard from KatherineScheibel, the Senior Director of
Program and Impact.
Bob sat down with Katherine andAmy Sutton recently and they
shared with us how they work tohelp cancer patients maintain a
healthy mindset after diagnosisand all the way through
(01:10):
treatment and recovery.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
My name is Amy Sutton , ceo of Crossroads for Hope.
It's been quite a journey.
You know, when you're goingthrough life, you don't really
know where you're leading andwhen you look back, somehow it
all makes sense.
And so for me, I started inindustry, in human resources,
helping organizations transformand change and help people
(01:36):
through that change.
But, like a lot of people,after 9-11, life seemed very
different and a lot of us werelooking for meaning after that
experience.
So I left corporate life andreally started to think about
what I wanted to do.
And I came upon hospice.
And when you talk about change,end of life is the most
(01:57):
significant change that all ofus face, and those are the two
things birth and death are thethings we're all going to
experience.
Those are the two things birthand death are the things we're
all going to experience.
So I worked in thatorganization for three years.
It was an amazing experienceand a privilege to be part of
people's lives at that point intheir journey, and I think what
that experience taught me inseeing how people came to
(02:20):
hospice, was how broken thehealthcare system is and how
ill-prepared so many people arebecause of that for this very
important time in their life andtheir family's life, and what I
think happens is when weshortchange people's experiences
at that phase, we don't givepeople time to do the work that
(02:41):
needs to happen for themselvesand their families, and it
leaves people with questionsabout their loved one's death,
that experience, and that canlast for generations, especially
if it's a bad death.
So you know, moving forward, Ileft there and went into the Red
Cross and handled some of thelargest disaster relief
(03:01):
operations in New Jersey priorto Sandy.
What do you do for people whoare facing a crisis and even now
in cancer, and what I'velearned is you have to treat the
whole person.
So, both in hospice care and atthe Red Cross, mental health
and health services go hand inglove and you don't see that as
effectively done in day-to-dayhealthcare operations.
(03:32):
I think it's really importantthat we leverage all professions
required to help people througha crisis, to move through a
crisis and to know how to eventake the first step forward,
because no one is prepared.
No one is prepared for death,even though we know we're all
going to face it.
No one is prepared for disasterand no one is prepared for
cancer, and so, therefore,social work and medical
professionals have to worktogether to deal with all the
(03:53):
issues that people face, notjust treatment of disease.
So coming to this organization,crossroads for Hope, has been
an amazing experience because wehave the opportunity to allow
social work to operate at thetop of its license and it's a
powerful thing and it'stransformative in people's lives
(04:13):
.
Or I always have to preface whatI say.
I'm not a social worker, but Iso appreciate the discipline
because their approach is tomeet people where they are in
their life, in the context oftheir family and their lived
environment, and to reallyapproach them as human beings
who have emotional, social andpractical needs.
(04:34):
And when you hear the wordcancer before treatment ever
starts, your worry and fearcomes from the fact that you're
thinking about your mortalityand no one is prepared for that.
So you have to get through thatto be able to access resources
to go through treatment and tobe able to advocate for the best
health care that you canpossibly have.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
My name is Katherine Scheibel.
I'm the Senior Director ofProgram and Impact with
Crossroads for Hope, a networkof cancer support.
I do think it's nice to kind offrame this conversation with my
story and what really led me tosocial work, because I was
thinking about where it allbegan, and I think it started,
honestly, before I even knew itas a very young person.
(05:19):
I grew up in a household wheremy parents were both involved
with primary medicine.
My father is a lifelong dentistand so, having exposure to the
medical community, I oftenaspired to be a part of this
world.
But you know, I also justalways wanted to be a helper.
I often found myself puttingothers first, being the friend
that let people cut in line andget to the food in the cafeteria
(05:41):
before me, or driving someonehome the extra mile to make sure
they got home safe, right.
So those values have alwayssort of been instilled in me,
with a passion to lead by giving, but honestly, fast forward.
My family was personallyimpacted by a lot of loss at an
early kind of phase in life.
My brother had cancer and hedied from cancer when he was 21.
(06:04):
And I was 17, going on tocollege during a huge life
transition and again, thisperson who kind of had an
interest in science but apassion to give and heal.
I was at a crossroads myselfand truly just stumbled upon
social work 101 and the rest ishistory.
(06:24):
My brother had Hodgkin'slymphoma.
Yeah, he had an 18-month battlewith the disease and, honestly,
he was off pretty well.
So things took a turn for theworse and our family has been
healing for 17 years since.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Amy.
So tell us a little bit abouthow'd you come up with the name
Crossroads for Hope and how youeven started that, or how you
got to cancer care.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
We had been on a journey as an organization.
We were started by four womenin the community, all of whom
had professional and personalconnections to cancer.
We started as an organizationnamed Hope Springs, and they
were guided very early on toaffiliate with a national
organization.
And then, in 2021, we made thedecision to venture out on our
(07:14):
own because we believed in adifferent approach to how these
services needed to be delivered.
Oftentimes, when people arefaced with a crisis, they are at
a crossroads.
They're not sure whichdirection to start moving in and
, besides the fact that ourstreet name is Crossroads, it
struck us that that is verysymbolic of a health crisis like
(07:39):
cancer.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Tell us a little bit about where Crossroads for Hope
fits into a cancer journey.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
So I'd like to frame my answer by talking about the
cancer landscape, because it'svery complicated.
The way I would suggest peoplethink about it is, if you think
about a pyramid, a triangle, atthe top are those organizations
focused on research curingdisease, and there's many
organizations playing in thatspace.
(08:09):
In the middle of the pyramidyou have those organizations
treating disease and at thefoundation, the largest part of
that pyramid, is the communityand that's where we live.
We work with all of thosestakeholders across all of those
types of organizations, but weare rooted in community.
So how do people find us?
We receive referrals fromhealthcare providers and other
(08:32):
organizations asking for us tosupport their patients and
families.
People find us searching theinternet.
They find us through word ofmouth and I will tell you
categorically almost everybodythat I meet that we've served
has told me that they had wishedthey had found us sooner and,
(08:54):
as a leader, it's heartbreakingto hear that, because you
understand that people aresuffering emotionally and you
want to relieve that burden.
So we're doing everything wecan to make sure that we can get
to people sooner.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
I found myself traveling abroad.
I spent a lot of time in SouthAmerica.
There I found my now husbandfrom Ecuador, and I lived there
on and off throughout thecultural intersection between
invulnerable communities.
And so I turned to do mymaster's in social work at
(09:43):
Boston University, and most ofmy practice was within the
domestic violence field.
So I had been doing a lot oftrauma-informed care, working as
a civil advocate, obtainingrestraining orders for women
primarily women but also workingin after-school programs for
children who were either childwitnesses or victims of domestic
(10:05):
violence, and so that is thefoundation of my clinical
practice and background.
And I moved home to New Jerseyand was looking for jobs and
honestly kind of felt like Iwanted to keep cancer oncology
at distance, because what theyteach you in school is
everything about boundaries andtransference or
(10:28):
counter-transference right,which is this process that you
know things can come up.
We're human beings, we come tothis work with our own baggage,
and so I felt like it wasn't theright move for a while to get
into cancer although it wasalways something that was like
in the back of my head and so Itook a leap of faith, I found
Crossroads for Hope, and it'sbeen my home now ever since, for
(10:48):
nine years.
So I was doing outreach,building partnerships and
bridges within schools anddelivering age and
developmentally appropriateservices to teenage kids who
were impacted by cancer anotherthing that I completely
understand from a personal level.
And then we began to buildcapacity around that right.
We hired a child lifespecialist, for example, to be
(11:09):
the lead discipline to be ableto fully support that
demographic, and then the samegoes for our public health
outreach.
So we've expanded into workingin partnership boots on the
ground with grassrootsorganizations churches, schools,
social service agencies toalign our mission with others,
to begin really forcemultiplying what we do in a more
(11:31):
culturally humble and sensitiveway.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
That's a great journey.
It's so nice to see the growthand the pathway.
So, in that continuous journeyto do that and keep on improving
and getting better, when didyou guys come up with the idea
of my go-to support and how didthat happen?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
It's hard to believe that technology really wasn't a
part of our practice prior tothe pandemic, but we always
envision technology playing arole in meeting the needs
directly into the pockets ofpeople when and where they are
needing us the most Right.
So I think about historically,when we were primarily an
in-person model.
(12:13):
I would witness firsthand, byfacilitating support groups,
people coming and coming andcoming and then they leave and
then they get sick and then theydrop off a group and they don't
come back again and we losetouch with them, and there's a
process involved with being ableto address that from a
psychosocial perspective withthe groups, right.
(12:34):
There's other examples, likepeople would leave our yoga
class and be friends, they wouldmeet up, they would go for
lunch, they would do their thing.
Right, the work continuesoutside the four corners of this
screen.
So the pandemic hit.
We were introduced to you, gomoHealth, and I think, in
combination of your expertise inbehavioral science and our
(12:58):
understanding of psychosocialsupport and timely interventions
, we were able to align thisproject to underwrite your
product with our program, myGo-To Support.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
And integrate it into your whole psychosocial support
program.
So it kind of gives me a littlegoosebumps there.
Tell us a little bit moredetailed on the workflows, sure.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
We've built a workflow around now having this
as an enabler to our wraparoundservices.
So it's a point of entry.
When people are referred to us,either by a provider or self,
we deploy a welcome message toour community and encourage them
to enroll into my go-to support.
That's the opt-in model, right?
(13:44):
So this is because we've builtthis program around a
community-based model.
We encourage them to start ourservices by beginning with my
go-to support.
So immediately they receive awelcome message, right.
They understand the terms andconditions and they begin
receiving one to three textmessages a week based on where
they are in their own cancerjourney what we would call a
persona, right?
So we have certain messagesthat are tailored to folks who
(14:06):
are either newly diagnosed or insurvivorship or having a
recurrence, or if they're acaregiver or in bereavement or a
parent right, so on and soforth.
And on a weekly basis they arebeing asked how are they doing?
Through a survey that is rootedin the NCC undistressed screener
and the PHQ-2 and PHQ-9, whichare validated assessments for
(14:30):
risk for depression.
So, based on how people answersome of those questions, it
becomes a bidirectionalengagement, right.
And we have escalations builtin to triage to our clinical
team, so that we know thatwithin 24 hours, if someone is
in an increased distress basedon either a social, emotional,
(14:51):
practical or physical issue, oursocial work team reaches out
and then that relationshipbegins to build, you know.
So now we've delivered a timelyintervention, we're building
trust and rapport with thisperson.
They know we're here for them,not just.
You know their mobile device,and we're preventing the fact
that distress doesn't becomereally the ultimate barrier for
(15:13):
them accessing care.
And so, you know, the journeycontinues from there.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
And I think we always need to focus on a program like
Crossroads for Hope.
My go to support everythingyou're doing could bring some of
that back and to your point is,if you want to feel good as an
oncologist or radiationtherapist, helping the person
from a whole life perspectiveand seeing them more successful
(15:38):
or in their journey is a goodfeeling, right.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
Absolutely yeah, and we know that, like nearly a
hundred percent of peopleimpacted by cancer or some sort
of chronic disease needs somelevel of basic access to
resources or education, aconnection to information that
will help empower them education, a connection to information
that will help empower them takecontrol of their disease.
(16:06):
But as you go kind of down thescale and think about like 10%
at least of people who aredealing with cancer are going to
need clinical intervention,maybe a little more than that,
say about 30% of people needsome sort of just tailored
psychosocial support.
So when you start to look atthose percentages of people in
the general community, we cannow kind of have an
understanding of who needs themost support and get them into
(16:26):
the hands of the professionalswho are capable of supporting
them the most.
That way, social workers areworking top of license and the
satisfaction not only comes fromknowing that they're taken care
of by the work of technology onthe outskirts of their clinical
care, but also the satisfactionof knowing we need better
methods and we need to focus onpeople being mentally and
(17:01):
physically healthy at home,self-care, family care,
community care.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Not just we're going to give the doctor a hundred
bucks for the visit, thinkingthat the doctor is going to
solve the person's problem athome.
And employers are starting toget more active in that as well.
Right, Because they also dealwith double-digit folks
typically percent of theirpopulation going through a
(17:27):
cancer journey and folks intheir family, which causes,
besides all the health humantoll and cost, absenteeism,
productivity retention.
So I think an organization likeCrossroads for Hope can be used
by employers as really part oftheir whole benefits package and
(17:48):
that would be, I think, awonderful thing.
Because I'm sure maybe you getpeople talking about, let's say,
a woman with breast cancerwho's working, two kids, how
does she support the family andwhat's her brand?
Now you talk about personas,but what's their self-perceived
brand of who they are now?
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Integration of psychosocial support services is
the standard of care.
We're all challenged with howto do that because these
delivery mechanisms are old.
That's why we've been workingto bring them into the 21st
century.
They also amplify the effortsof medical professionals,
because if people have socialneeds like depression, they lack
financial wherewithal or theydon't have it, they're
(18:36):
underinsured, or they don't havetransportation or they have
unstable housing, they can'tengage in their health care
effectively.
So those are the issues.
The non-medical issues are whatwe deal with so that patients
can focus on their treatment andcare.
So our job is to make it easierfor health care professionals
so that they can focus on thethings that they do and they
(18:57):
have an activated patient with asupport system through their
family, which is why we care forthe family to be able to access
and stay in care.
And the other thing that I wouldsay is it's really important
you know I saw this in hospice.
You know the nurse would come inand that individual understood
if there was emotional issuesgoing on in the house.
You know the nurse would come inand that individual understood
(19:18):
if there was emotional issuesgoing on in the house.
They listened, they took thatinformation, but they were not
responsible to respond to that.
They had a social worker theycould turn that over to and knew
that that person would followup and take care of it.
And when the social worker wentin, they saw medical related
issues.
They understood that.
They reported that back to theteam and the medical
(19:38):
professional followed up andwhat that does is that gives
people breathing room to do thework that they're trained and
educated to do and not have todo every single job that's
needed.
So we complement what'shappening in the medical space
and we understand the challengesthat medical professionals are
under right now the pressure,lack of staffing there's just a
(19:59):
multitude of different issues.
Our job is to make it easierand to make sure that we're
addressing what we feel is notbeing effectively addressed
anywhere, which is the personand their needs that help them
live every day in the face ofthis disease.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Well said.
Now, from a health planperspective, I mean, it's a very
similar statement, but if youwere talking to health plan
besides what you just said,would there be anything else you
would want to comment on?
Speaker 4 (20:29):
Well, if you want to manage the cost of care and have
better outcomes, you have tohelp people manage their
distress and their life, andit's a bottom line issue when we
are talking to the businessside of this industry.
This is about improvingpeople's quality of life,
lowering the cost of care andensuring that we have better
(20:49):
health outcomes for people.
And by ignoring how people feelor the challenges that they're
living with through this disease, it does a disservice to the
individuals and families, aswell as the whole system.
It's a burden on the systembecause people overuse care when
they're distressed, or theydon't comply with their
medication and or they have astressed caregiver in the home
(21:11):
and can't get to their treatmentright.
So it's just baffling to me whywe only talk about the physical
.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Bob.
Crossroads for Hope, againbased in central New Jersey, is
serving patients and caregivers,all at no cost to them, in 44
states and growinginternationally.
As Amy Sutton says, everyoneshould have access to this as a
standard of care.
I have to say, after listeningto these stories from Crossroads
for Hope and from the peoplethat they help and their
(21:45):
families, based on personalexperience and I've
unfortunately been through thistwice with my mom two bouts of
cancer it's really, really notjust about the physical.
It's not about my mom walkingto the bathroom at two in the
morning holding on to myshoulders because she couldn't
walk on her own.
It's about the, the emotionaland the support that everybody
(22:08):
needs and and it's the persondiagnosed and it's the family
members too let's take a momentabout the words my go-to support
.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
We would all love to be supported 24 by 7 in our
daily life, at Homework and Play, whether we have cancer, don't
have cancer, have challenges,don't believe we have challenges
.
Isn't it great to have aprogram and system that listens,
learns and helps us in our timeof need?
(22:39):
So I ask all of you to pleasesupport Crossroads for Hope.
Make a donation, volunteer, getactive and help them expand the
work to help families goingthrough cancer and people served
throughout the United States ofAmerica.
Speaker 3 (22:59):
Thanks, bob, and thanks so much Catherine and Amy
.
We look forward to expanding myGoToSupport and continuing to
collaborate to help more peoplefacing the uniquely difficult
diagnosis of cancer.
For more information, pleasevisit gomohealthcom.
Human Resilience Changing theWay Healthcare is Delivered.
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