Empowering Cancer Survivors to Become Mentors, and Leaders Through Various Workshops and Programs

Background and context: Friends of Cancer Patients UAE conducts various moral support programs for cancer patients, one of which is the “Color My World” program, which focuses on provide moral support to predominantly men and women, who have undergone, or are currently undergoing treatment of cancer. Aim: The aim is to empower cancer survivors to become leaders and mentors to other ladies/men currently undergoing treatment, and to establish a survivor led support program, as a result of these various programs and workshops. Strategy/Tactics: We believe that to for such a program to be a success, you need to understand your target group, their interests, as well as their backgrounds. A needs assessment needs to be conducted prior to the selection of workshops, whether through direct interviews with the patients, or internally by examining the different support programs available in the country, and what is available/not available. Program/Policy process: There are numerous workshops that take place throughout the year, and they are divided as follows: - There are workshops that focus on healthy living, and the importance of a healthy diet, which involves numerous cooking workshops, and educational sessions. - There are workshops that focus on skin care and make-up, where the ladies are taught how to take care of themselves by certified stylists and makeup artists. - Those who are interested in crochet and handicrafts, have the chance to take part in group workshops, or in focused 1 to 1 sessions. Outcomes: There are a number of positive outcomes that came about from our attempts to empower cancer survivors, the ones we believe are worth of being highlighted are: - A group of survivors are now leading, and running a cancer support program, that visits hospitals within the UAE, to visit those currently undergoing treatment, to provide support, and assist those still undergoing treatment in any way possible. - Many of the ladies, who attended previous workshops, will now start to lead similar workshops during hospital visits to children and women with cancer. What was learned: Cancer survivors must be the driving force in providing support to other cancer patients, and the existing model of the support groups can be linked with the educational workshops, to not only provide moral support, but also social support to the cancer patient.