CancerCare and Amie’s Place Foundation partner to help keep patients with cancer and their pets united

Amie’s Place Foundation has gifted a 1-year-grant to CancerCare’s Pet Assistance and Wellness Program to develop educational fact sheets, videos, and a discussion guide for people undergoing cancer treatment who own pets. These materials available on the CancerCare website provide them necessary information on caring for themselves and their beloved companion animals.

According to an organizational release, these resources also enabled CancerCare to create a panel of multi-disciplinary experts to partner with them in developing the resources.¹

Initiated in 2019, the CancerCare Pet Assistance and Wellness Program helps those with cancer to keep pets when they may otherwise be forced to surrender them due to challenges surrounding their diagnosis. What’s more, individuals undergoing cancer treatment can apply to receive assistance for expenses including pet food, vaccinations, veterinarian visits and more.

“We could not have been more delighted to work with Amie’s Place Foundation to provide this unique and innovative education resource for people with cancer who have pets. I know first-hand how important a furry friend can be during a cancer diagnosis,” expressed Patricia J. Goldsmith, CancerCare’s Chief Executive Officer, who devised the concept for the Pet Assistance and Wellness initiative after her own diagnosis.¹

“Pets can clearly play a crucial support role to our clients as they undergo cancer treatment, and in fact we learned that 34% of CancerCare clients who received financial assistance from CancerCare’s PAW Program report living alone with only their pet for support and companionship. Thanks to Amie’s Place Foundation, our organization has been able to create easy-to-understand educational materials using the expertise of our panel of dedicated experts to help people undergoing treatment for cancer to help address their challenges related to caring for their pets.”

The panelists of experts involved in creating the resources include the following¹:

Fumiko Chino, MD, Radiation Oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering; Camille DeSantis, Executive Vice President, Group Head, Corporate & Biotech, Edelman; Rachel Herman, Executive Director, PAWS NYC (Pets are Wonderful Support); Haleigh Mistry, Physician Assistant, MD, Anderson Cancer Center; Sondra Oliver, DVM, Bayside Animal Medical Center; Victoria Puzo, LCSW, Clinical Supervisor and Online Support Group Program Director, CancerCare; Lidia Schapira, MD, Professor of Medicine (Medical Oncologist), Stanford University School of Medicine; and Connie Wong, DMV, Medical Education Librarian, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Reference

CancerCare® and Amie’s Place Foundation announce innovative educational resources to help cancer patients and their pets stay safely together. News release. CancerCare. May 2, 2022. Accessed May 6, 2022. https://www.cancercare.org/press/releases/226-2022_05_02