Meet support bus Bronwen
A cancer diagnosis often leaves patients feeling isolated, scared and unsure of where to turn for advice. Macmillan Wales explains how its new mobile support bus can provide tailored information for anyone affected by cancer
Being told you have cancer can be life-changing. In Wales, more than 19,000 people hear those words every year. What follows can be a complex and emotional journey.
From the very moment of cancer diagnosis, how hard that journey becomes can, in many ways, be decided by the quality of information and support people receive.
Cancer impacts on every individual in widely different and highly individual ways. No one should be left to navigate its impacts on their own.
For many people the stresses are far wider than purely medical, and people with cancer will all have complex financial, spiritual and emotional needs or anxieties.
Macmillan Wales firmly believes that everyone affected by cancer should get the high-quality, tailored information they need to make informed choices.
Yet Wales is one of the most rural areas of the UK. Many people with cancer have to travel miles to get to their appointments. Accessing information is not always easy.
In a world gone digital, it’s easy to assume that such information is readily available, that advances in technology offer a format that people want and can easily access.
In large part, that is true. Macmillan offers a range of web resources, apps and an online community where people can find support from others in a similar position.
But Wales has some of the slow- est broadband speeds in the UK. A disproportionate number of Welsh constituencies appear in the UK’s slowest “top 10”.
Even when connectivity is good, digital information just doesn’t always feel as reassuring as it does when it is delivered face to face. The internet simply doesn’t hold out a hand, or put the kettle on and talk it all through.
When people can’t come to the information they need, then perhaps it is better for the information to go to them.
In 2016 Macmillan Wales reached more than 16,000 people by taking specialist cancer information and advice out onto the road and into communities.
The charity’s new mobile information and support bus, Bronwen, has been designed with Wales’ specific geography and the needs of Welsh communities in mind.
Launched earlier this year, she is the first dedicated mobile cancer information and advice service in the country.
She is smaller, lighter and will allow our team of highly-skilled health and social care professionals to reach more areas and more people than ever before.
The unit is not without a splash of technology. Fitted with the latest solar panels, the team can be self-sufficient for up to eight hours, even on the greyest of days.
Bronwen also features a quiet room, two large LED screens, as well as iPads to help people access on-the-spot resources and information.
Out and about in cities, towns and villages, the new mobile unit is there for anyone with questions about cancer – delivering information where it is needed most.
The recent Wales Cancer Patient Experience Survey (2016) made the gaps in cancer information and advice abundantly clear.
We know that almost 4,000 people with cancer in Wales did not completely understand exactly what was wrong with them. We also know that more than a quarter of people with cancer said they did not receive easy-to-understand written information about the type of cancer they have.
An estimated 12,000 people were not offered a written care plan to help them understand their cancer care and what would happen next. Added to this, around 6,500 of cancer patients felt they were not fully told about the potential future side-effects of their treatment.
One in two are not getting the advice they need on issues like finance from hospital staff, and almost 5,500 people are not receiving enough help after leaving hospital. This is all critical, essential information and support.
How can people with cancer take control of their situation if they don’t have a firm understanding of what they are facing or what will happen next?
From diagnosis right through to the end of cancer treatment, these gaps in information all directly impact on people’s quality of life and their rate of recovery.
That is why our face-to-face services, like Bronwen, remain so important.
No one should underestimate just how important it is for people to have a clear understanding of their diagnosis, care plan and the wider support that is available.
Whether recently diagnosed, going through treatment or living beyond cancer, Bronwen is there for anyone and everyone with questions about cancer.
The team has decades of collective professional experience in cancer care and support.
They can offer advice on anything ranging from diet, treatments and sideeffects, to financial and emotional support.
They do it face to face within our communities in Wales.
Technology does have a huge role to play in improving cancer care, but sometimes it is at its most effective when blended with something more traditional.
In many ways, our mobile information unit is a blend of old technology and new. A mix of good old-fashioned human contact with digital technology.
If you have questions about cancer that need answering, please keep an eye out for Bronwen rolling into your area.
You can find out where Bronwen will be next on her tour of Wales at www.macmillan.org.uk/mobileinfo, or by following @MacmillanCymru on Twitter. If you would like information and support from Macmillan, visit www. macmillan.org.uk or call the Macmillan Support line on 0808 808 00 00.
You can also download our new ‘Your Cancer Care in Wales’ guide from: www.macmillan.org.uk/ cancercarewales