Digitally Empowered® and digital sherpa®
Digitally Empowered® and digital sherpa® are complementary programs aimed to help cancer patients (mainly 65 and older) and their families become more tech-savvy.
Research suggests that many older cancer patients lack basic Internet and social media skills, creating an obstacle for them when they attempt to go online to access information about their illnesses, or to obtain support from other patients and advocacy groups. Often they are overwhelmed with the abundance of information and don’t know how or where to find the help they need.
We want to change that.
We believe all patients, regardless of age and technical ability, should have equal access to health information to make the best decisions about their care.
Personalize Your Experience!
digital sherpa®
Program participants are paired with university students, known as “sherpas”, who have been specially trained by the Patient Empowerment Network to offer skills such as:
- Safely Navigating Healthcare Resources Online (e.g., Tips for staying safe on the internet, How to distinguish credible information/sources from non-credible information/sources, Remembering passwords)
- Forming Your Online Disease Support Community
- How to Use Telemedicine
- Navigating Your Health with Electronic Devices (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc)
- Just For the Fun (and Healing!) of It (e.g., YouTube, HealthTunes, etc)
- How Can Apps Aid Me in My Healthcare Journey? (e.g., rideshare apps, exercise & wellness apps, etc)
- The Social Media Experience: Following and Connecting with Patients, Advocates & Experts
Workshop participants and their sherpas work as a team to find information, learn new skills, and begin to access available resources. This relationship provides support for cancer patients to become more tech-savvy, more health-literate, more self-confident, and more in control of their journey. By pairing the younger and older generations, we hope to create an empathetic and powerful relationship that is a lasting asset to the community.
digital sherpa® Train-the-Trainer
Train-the-Trainer equips community-based organizations and federally qualified health centers to deliver these digital literacy skills training workshops—online or in-person—to the cancer patients and caregivers in their communities.
Do you want to bring digital sherpa® to your community? Train-the Trainer is for you! digital sherpa® Train-the-Trainer will allow you to empower your patients, alleviate staff over-load, and improve cancer outcomes by giving you the tools and resources to host personalized workshops. Please reach out to joelys@powerfulpatients.org to learn more and she will be in contact with you shortly.
Digitally Empowered®
Digitally Empowered® is a 10-module online course complete with animated videos, downloadable guides, and quizzes to test your knowledge.
Digitally Empowered® will help you become more tech-savvy so you can find information and support to empower you and your loved ones during the cancer journey.
Participant Feedback
This program is supported by 2seventy Bio, Astellas, Exelixis, Genentech, Janssen, Merck, Pharmacyclics, Regeneron, Sanofi, and through generous donations from people like you.
