The Livestrong Foundation

Despite increasing cancer diagnoses, cancer care hasn't kept up with these demands, leaving millions to face the complexities of cancer alone. We address these gaps by developing and improving healthcare legislation and promoting patient-centered approaches to care.

We promote the right to cancer care through initiatives that expand access to available drugs and technologies.

We advocate for sustainable federal funding so that the fight against cancer is a national priority.

We are committed to expanding healthcare delivery and payment models that advance patient-centered cancer care.

Learn more at www.livestrong.org/what-we-do/policy-platform

Livestrong Fertility is dedicated to providing reproductive information, resources, and financial support to survivors whose cancer and its treatment present risks to their fertility.

Learn more at www.livestrong.org/what-we-do/program/fertility

Livestrong partnered with the YMCA of the USA in 2007 to create Livestrong at the YMCA, a 12-week physical activity program designed to get survivors back on their feet.

We worked with researchers from Yale University and Dana Farber Cancer Institute to conduct a research study on the impact of the program on participants’ cancer-related outcomes. We found that participants experienced significant increases in physical activity, overall quality of life and fitness performance as well as decreases in cancer-related fatigue.

Learn more at www.livestrong.org/what-we-do/program/livestrong-at-the-ymca

The Livestrong Cancer Institutes has a simple yet powerful mission: to reinvent the way cancer patients and survivors are cared for and supported. The Livestrong Foundation has made a $50 million commitment to create and support the Livestrong Cancer Institutes at the Dell Medical School of The University of Texas at Austin.

The Livestrong Cancer Institutes will rethink the full range of cancer care from prevention to diagnosis, treatment and survivorship, all with a focus on the patient’s needs, values and preferences.

Decades of research and working one-on-one with cancer survivors and their families has given Livestrong an informed understanding of some of the largest challenges cancer patients face: chronic pain, loss of fertility, emotional distress, family instability, career impact and long-term financial hardships. We are bringing this knowledge and research to the Livestrong Cancer Institutes.

The Livestrong Cancer Institutes will:

Identify and fill gaps in cancer diagnosis and treatment to establish universal standards and resources for patients and survivors
Identify and serve cancer needs, especially among communities lacking access to care and support
Engage the voices of people affected by cancer in the design and deployment of cancer care, education and research
Develop best practices in cancer care and care delivery using a multidisciplinary team-based focus for each patient
With a home in the newly created Dell Medical School, the Livestrong Cancer Institutes have the advantage of starting from scratch, unencumbered by the rigid cultures and expensive infrastructures that prevent transformation.

The Goal
Our goal for the Livestrong Cancer Institutes is to create a comprehensive model that puts survivors’ needs above all else, from the medical to the emotional to the practical. This innovative model is intended to serve as an incubator. After its creation and implementation here in Austin, we see tremendous opportunities to replicate the Institutes model in other cities across the country and across the world.

In other words: The Livestrong Cancer Institutes will radically improve people’s cancer experience and quality of life; revolutionize how we treat cancer; and reinvent the way cancer patients are cared for.

Next Steps
As a nonprofit that relies on donations, Livestrong is always grateful to its generous donors, volunteers, and other well-valued supporters. For nineteen years now, we have been leading the way in patient-centered cancer support. As we continue moving forward, Livestrong remains committed to patient-centered, revolutionary cancer care.

Every cycle has a beginning. At Livestrong, we start by listening, to learn about the friction points across the cancer care continuum. The Innovation Conversation (icon) Series begins to find these friction points, refine what they are, and offer potential local, regional, national and eventually global solutions. This also opens the door to collaboration across the globe and positions Livestrong as the cancer care non-profit leader we are. The series engages the cancer community, fosters collaborations between like-minded groups and organizations, and provides new answers to problems in the everyday lives of those affected by cancer.

Through conversation and collaboration, the Series has three goals:
1. To learn more about the friction points across the cancer care continuum, refine what they are, and offer potential solutions for them.
2. To inform Livestrong of trends, gaps, and issues occurring within the cancer care space to influence programming and ensure we’re meeting the needs of survivors, caregivers, and their loved ones.
3. To highlight the cancer experience and bring together organizations and individuals who are part of the cancer community, providing a new connection point for Livestrong family members, donors, and corporate partners.

Learn more and join the conversation at www.livestrong.org/what-we-do/icon-series

Livestrong at School offers free age-appropriate resources for school professionals including classroom
lesson plans for grades K-12, engaging videos and printable worksheets that educate students about the
effects of cancer in their community and empower them to take action in the fight against cancer.

The program prepares educators to have tough discussions with kids about cancer. It is designed
to teach kids what cancer is and is not, how to have conversations about cancer. Livestrong at
School prepares kids to deal with cancer in their classrooms, homes, and in their communities.

Learn more at www.livestrong.org/school

The Livestrong Solution Grants program recognizes and funds organizations who are developing cutting edge, inventive, and sustainable solutions to overlooked cancer problems.

We listened to thousands of cancer survivors, medical professionals, and advocates to determine what the biggest problems in cancer are right now. This is what we heard and these are our funding priorities:

Post-Treatment Care - Solutions that improve cancer survivors, caregivers, and loved ones lives after treatment.

Patient and Caregiver Education - Solutions to enhance patient and caregiver education across the cancer continuum of care.

Comprehensive Quality of Life Services - Solutions which address cancer survivors’ practical needs and enhance their overall well-being with a focus on the whole person.

Streamlining Systems and Care - Solutions which use person-based approaches to optimize the balance between healthcare users, health care providers, policies, procedures and technologies.

Learn more at www.livestrong.org/what-we-do/livestrong-solution-grants