Cancer Care Services

Outcomes/Impact
Rates of major depressive disorder are thought to be up to three times higher in cancer patients than in the general population, and depression in caregivers is often equal to or higher than depression in cancer patients.
Outcomes/Impact Continued
According to the National Cancer Institute, “Data suggests that cancer patients can develop a sense of helplessness or hopelessness when stress becomes overwhelming. This response is associated with higher rates of death.” Evidence from experimental studies also suggests that psychological stress can affect a tumor’s ability to grow and spread. This is why screening for distress is a recommendation of the patient-centered standards from the American College of Surgeon’s Commission on Cancer.
1. Our first outcome goal utilizes CancerSupportSource’s nationally-recognized and evidence-based Distress Screening Tool to measure a client’s reduction in distress 30 days after receiving our services. The goal is for 50% of clients surveyed to experience a reduction in distress by 10% or more. Data collected between January – December showed that 99% of clients decreased distress by at least 10%.
2. Our second outcome goal is to measure a reduction in distress by collecting stress-reduction data from clients who receive resource & referral services &/or who participate in our psychosocial programs. Between January and December 2022, 99% of the 5,285 individuals surveyed reported a reduced level of distress.

Cancer Care Services’ professional Cancer Advocates (social workers) walk side-by-side with cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones during their entire journey in order to reduce cancer’s impact on their financial, emotional, and day-to-day well-being. "Social workers are just as important in the treatment of cancer as chemotherapy," says Dr. Lawrence Shulman, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. “Social workers are trained to help patients and their families cope with the physical, emotional, and social disruptions of cancer in ways that physicians cannot.” According to Timothy Mullett, MD, MBA, medical director of the Markey Cancer Center Research Network, “Social workers have the expertise to identify and overcome roadblocks that can interfere with treatment outcomes.”

Our Cancer Advocates address the multifaceted challenges cancer brings, from diagnoses onward. We give HELP & HOPE through personalized care and advocacy to help clients overcome system barriers, strengthen coping skills, address mental health needs, reduce distress, and minimize financial trauma BY:
 Decreasing distress through addressing mental health concerns like feelings of helplessness, fear, and anxiety; marital and family tension; and grief through our counseling services (all ages are served, including children);
 Removing barriers, like the inability to pay for health insurance, through our financial assistance program which includes: health insurance assistance, medication copays, transportation assistance, and emergency funds;
 Improving adherence to cancer treatment plans through guiding patients, and their loved ones, through the complex healthcare maze -including helping with practical and financial concerns. For example, funds raised through this campaign enabled us to hire a Financial Navigator to assist patients with insurance, billing, and other cancer-related financial issues. We also provide nutritional support through dietitians and nutritional supplements;
 Reducing social isolation by creating peer connection and companionship through social support; strengthening each client’s circle of support, and providing caregiver education and support; and…
 Imparting knowledge about pertinent topics intended to strengthen clients’ self-sufficiency and well-being.

Since 1946, Cancer Care Services has been supporting cancer patients, caring for caregivers, and empowering survivors to reduce the impact of cancer in Tarrant County. Cancer Care serves around 3,500 people annually by providing holistic, personalized support and resources to improve quality of life, reduce stress, and address the social determinants of health. We serve all cancer types, all ages, all ethnicities, and income levels (In 2021, 79% of our clients were considered very low to low income, and 34% were considered minority ethnicity). Our expansive, wrap-around services for patients, survivors, and their caregivers provide relief from the fear & chaos of cancer – while reducing trauma and distress. And because cancer shouldn’t devastate one’s finances, 100% of our programs are free. Cancer Care employs 35 passionate and professional staff, with 19% of those having 5-10 years of service to the agency. Cancer Care Services is unique, relevant, innovative, responsive, equitable, and inclusive.

COVID has had a deadly impact on cancer due to a decline in screenings, and therefore diagnoses. “The true incidence of these cancers did not drop. The decline clearly represents a delay in making the diagnoses, and delays matter with cancer,” said Dr. Craig Bunnell, Chief Medical Officer of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “Late diagnosis of cancers is an incredibly worrying side-effect of the pandemic where the impact may be felt for several years. “The delay in diagnosis will likely lead to presentation at more advanced stages and poorer clinical outcomes.”

In addition to the pandemic’s adverse impact on cancer screenings, inflation has risen at the fastest pace in 40 years in 2022. We responded quickly to the pandemic and recession in 2020 by creating a COVID Emergency Fund to ensure clients’ life-sustaining needs are met, like shelter and food. We dispersed $81,000+ in COVID Emergency Funds in 2020, and distributed $266,785 in direct financial assistance in 2021 for impoverished clients–including COVID Emergency Funds. Sadly, pandemic-related trauma persists in 2022, so these emergency funds remain available in addition to our standard financial assistance programs. Since the pandemic, clients have required significantly more resource assistance and time from staff due to the extraordinary physical, economic, and mental health strains on their lives– so we continue meeting much more complex needs, including working with more patients with late-stage cancer.

Since 2020, Cancer Care has had to overcome the complex challenges of maintaining uninterrupted services for clients while also trying to raise revenue in a volatile and barren fundraising climate. Yet even though fundraising has suffered, we have expanded both services and staff. Cancer impacts nearly everyone in some capacity, so our mission to reduce the impact of cancer is vital.

Cancer Care is debt-free and has earned the Platinum Seal from Guidestar. In 2021, we were named Organization of the Year by the Dallas Fort Worth Community Health Workers Association, & selected as 1 of the 50 Best Nonprofits to Work For in the U.S. by the Nonprofit Times. We were named one of the Best Companies to Work For in Fort Worth in 2019, 2020 & 2021 by Fort Worth Inc. Magazine. We were named a Best Place for Working Parents in 2021 & 2022.