The Value of PEN: Learn More about Your Diagnosis
Video Two of a Five-Part Series
Some of the most comprehensive tools and resources to help and support cancer patients and care partners are available through Patient Empowerment Network (PEN). Video two of the five-part series, The Power of PEN, focuses on the disease-specific networks and resources that PEN offers patients and care partners to learn more about their diagnosis. These resources provide essential information so that patients are better able to understand their diseases, stay informed about treatments and research regarding their diseases, and be active partners in care decisions. The resources in the PEN network are all available for free, with access 24 hours a day, every day.
In this second video, you will meet members of the PEN community who have first-hand knowledge of the benefits PEN has to offer. Board Member Asalia Goldberg notes that the PEN website can help empower and support patients during every piece of their cancer journey.
The PEN website is also useful for care partners, says PEN Network Manager Coordinator Nykema Mpama. She adds that care partners, as well as patients, have access to PEN’s disease network online library, which offers in-depth information and resources to use during a healthcare journey.
PEN’s library of information and resources provides a great deal of disease-specific information, adds PEN MPN Network Manager Jeff Bushnell, who is also a care partner. The wealth of information is collected from doctors and professionals in their fields, and from patients and caregivers.
The PEN resources are a gamechanger for cancer patients who previously didn’t have access to a hub of resources. PEN Board Member Nancy Gatschet shares that when she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006, there was no access to the types of tools offered by PEN. She says she is grateful that PEN provides the tools patients need to become educated about their diseases and to feel empowered. Knowledge is every patient’s superpower.
PEN is here to help. Watch the second video and find out how you can get involved.
Learn More about Your Diagnosis from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
Jennifer Lessinger is a professional writer and editor who learned the value of patient empowerment during her struggle with a hard-to-diagnose and complex endocrine disorder.