Support from LIVESTRONG Grant Gave LIFE to Survivors
In 2006, the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now known as the Livestrong Foundation) awarded the NorthShore University HealthSystem a $50,000 Community Program grant. This key support helped establish Living in the Future (LIFE)—a unique cancer survivorship program designed to create a bridge for continued care of post treatment cancer survivors.
“While coddled and cared for in the intense environment of treatment, the post treatment cancer survivor was moving forward without a healthcare escort, often drowning without a LIFE preserver,” says Carol A. Rosenberg, MD, FACP, LIFE Founder and Program Director and Director of Preventive Health Initiatives for NorthShore. “LIFE bridged the gap between the post treatment cancer survivor, facilitating a smoother transition from the oncology specialty care environment back to the community, family and primary care setting”
The LIVESTRONG implementation grant made it possible for NorthShore to launch this program at a time when very few resources existed to assist cancer survivors as they transitioned from cancer treatment to living in the future. From its very beginning, LIFE featured a customized survivorship plan—the cornerstone of the program—that facilitates a dynamic partnership among the patient, the oncologist and the primary care physician.
At the core of the LIFE program is an individualized risk adapted visit with a nurse and a customized survivorship care plan. This personalized long-term care plan includes a portable detail of the survivor’s oncology diagnostic and treatment summary; cites guidelines for continued monitoring, include preventive practice recommendations; and maps out available resources and services.
“By awarding the NorthShore LIFE program an implementation grant, the Lance Armstrong Foundation importantly applauded our healing community for being a model for others in the healthcare industry,” says Dr. Rosenberg. “I feel proud and honored to have taken on a leadership role in pioneering this venture, which continues strong today to address our community’s cancer survivors’ healthcare needs.”
