Carol Evans, CEO at SHARE Cancer Support
Ife Lenard, Vice President of DEIB at SHARE Cancer Support

Ife presents our version of the Diversity Flower, the significance for the day’s event, the dangers of unconscious bias in medical treatment and patient care, and how those who have a petal, will be grouped by color to discuss the takeaways from content discussions. 

(The Diversity Flower was created by Deborah L. Plummer, who for 30 years has been a practicing psychologist, university professor, chief diversity officer, author, and speaker on topics central to racial equality, inclusion, and mutual respect.)

Technology is providing new and important opportunities for better detection and more effective treatments, such as a urine test for early detection of cervical cancers and outsmarting chemo-resistant ovarian cancer cells.

Topics will include the following:
• The pros and cons of technology and detection
• Who is benefitting from breakthrough discoveries and how can we make sure that underserved communities benefit from improved technology?
• How is the medical community responding to changing patient profiles for younger women, older women and transmen?

A) Managing Cultural Differences
This session will focus on language and cultural barriers that affect varying ethnic groups:
↳ How deeply rooted cultural ideas about cancer impact screening, diagnoses, and treatments.
↳ Immigrant patients and medical trust
↳ Language and cultural barriers to care

B) The Impact of Age
This session will focus on how age impacts diagnosis, treatments, and responses to patients outside of the traditional medical parameters relating to age.
↳ The increase of younger women with cancer diagnoses
↳ Misdiagnosis of younger women
↳ The new phenomenon of overdiagnosis and treatment of women over 75 (especially since life expectancy has increased and older women are living more dynamic lives)
↳ What does survivorship look like?

C) Providing for Social Determinants of Health
This session focuses on how the medical system is responding to cancer patients with disabilities:
↳ Women with disabilities are less likely to be screened for breast and cervical cancers. What can be done to change these practices?
↳ Are technological advances considering or aiding people with disabilities?

This will focus on how the medical community responds to gay women, trans men, gender expansive persons and other members of the LGBTQIA community.
↳ Lack of outreach and data
↳ Hormonal treatments and cancer screenings
↳ Lack of sensitivity training for medical professionals
↳ Challenges of inclusiveness even within organizations that support LGBTQIA patients

This session would look at the systemic barriers to proper healthcare and how legislation that affects women affects cancer care.
↳ Cancer trials and community distrust
↳ Long held cultural/racial ideas that impact treatment
↳ Access to new equipment, medicine and long-term care -- and its cost
↳ Why women have higher incidences of misdiagnoses and how to handle it
↳ What happens when you don’t respond to the treatment?
↳ Sensitivity treatment
↳ How is personal advocacy received from people of color?

This session would focus on the importance of treating the whole woman and the impact that the cancer may have in her personal life, relationships and self-esteem.
↳ Managing the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis and treatment
↳ How women have regained/maintained their self-esteem and agency over their relationships with partners and family members
↳ More medical professionals are understanding the importance of treating the whole person and not just the cancer
↳ Impact of how body and hormonal changes can affect sexual relations and reproductive interests
↳ The importance of sensitivity training at all levels of care
↳ How cancer impacts work and career
↳ The mental and emotional impact of survivorship