Patient-Centered Support
With the blank slate that comes with being part of a new medical school, the Livestrong Cancer Institutes have an unparalleled opportunity to design a collaborative clinical cancer care framework in partnership with community providers that is co-designed with patients and meets the needs of all people affected by cancer.
The Austin community serves as a local incubator for Dell Medical School’s cancer care model — in practice now at UT Health Austin — which can be disseminated nationally. To reduce cancer’s physical, financial and emotional impact on patients and their families, the Cancer Institutes develop solutions to address these challenges and others in the current Central Texas system:
Solution: Develop a new model for cancer detection, prevention, treatment, survivorship, end-of-life care, education and research that ensures everyone, regardless of income, education, neighborhood or ethnic background, has access to high-quality care when they need it.
Solution: Provide integrated, whole-person care across the continuum of cancer care through coordinated support teams (including professionals in mental health, social work, palliative care, nutrition, financial services and care management) that address patients’ unique need and deliver individualized care plans.
Solution: Assemble a world-class team of cancer experts across specialties to facilitate multidisciplinary, disease-focused clinics and translational research in partnership with the Central Texas cancer care community.
Solution: Patients and their families partner with care provider teams to determine their personal life goals with and beyond their disease and how involved they want to be with decision-making throughout their care journey.