The Value of PEN – Free Resources For Cancer Patients
Free Resources for Cancer Patients from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.
The best cancer care comes when a patient is empowered with knowledge and the resources to know what questions to ask and when to ask them. Video three, in a five-part series about the Value of Patient Empowerment Network (PEN), highlights the free resources PEN offers for patients and their loved ones. Featured in the video are ways in which patients can easily engage with their doctors and other members of their care and support teams. From the comprehensive activity guide designed to make patients feel more relaxed and less overwhelmed during their cancer journey, to the scripted questions patients can use when meeting with their doctors, PEN is here to help.
PEN Board Member Nancy Gatschet is a cancer survivor, and she speaks from experience when she says that PEN is a tool to empowerment. She emphasizes that through the resources provided by PEN, cancer patients become comfortable communicating needs and feelings with doctors, friends, and other members of their support network. She says it’s important for cancer patients to speak up for themselves and that PEN helps patients do just that. Part of the free resources available through PEN 24 hours a day, seven days a week are questions and scripts that patients can use to prepare themselves to speak with their doctors. PEN helps patients identify the critical questions they need to ask and offers suggestions about how to ask them.
PEN encourages all patients to be empowered, but for many people a cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming. Board Member Asalia Goldberg says that there are so many unknowns that patients face when they are about to enter treatment, but if they are equipped with not only answers, but also the critical questions they need to ask, they become their own voice and their own advocate, and they become empowered through their cancer journey.
Through resources like the scripts and activity guide provided by PEN, patients can have more productive doctor appointments. There’s even a checklist for patients to use to make sure they didn’t forget anything. Learn more about the many free resources available through PEN’s website, workshops, webinars, social media channels, and network managers. Watch the video and find out how you can get involved.
