Support Groups

Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group

In Western Australia Head &Neck Cancer is not that well promoted and this is evident in the lack of dedicated support for Head & Neck Cancer patients. Compare this to available support groups for other cancers and this further highlight’s that Head & Neck Cancer is not promoted or supported as much as other cancers.

Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group (currently in Murdoch Perth) strives to change that. This group is set up and facilitated by Head & Neck Cancer patients for Head & Neck Cancer patients and their carer’s. The group is supported by the Western Australian Head & Neck Cancer Support Foundation to ensure that the needs of the support group are met.

The objectives of Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group are:

Empower cancer survivors to live well;

Support people (patients and carers) affected by cancer; and

Integrate palliative care services.

At present the Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group meet once per month. Meetings are open to patients, members of the public, medical practitioners and allied health workers. Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group gives everyone the opportunity to talk to others who have or are experiencing Head &Neck Cancer. It is envisaged that we would share our experiences, struggles and achievements with others because everyone is of course different. Different Cancer, different location, different causes of cancer, different treatment, different long-term side effects. But we all suffered from the same thing, Head &Neck Cancer.

Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group encourages and engages with partners, carers and family to help them adjust and understand the various issues. It offers them an opportunity to talk, listen, ask questions and share experiences and information in a relaxed, protected, caring environment.

The Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group provides opportunities for medical practitioners and allied health workers to join in the conversation, so we can all share our experiences and they understand what is going on. Open communication is actively encouraged and on occasions medical professionals are formally invited to attend and present to the Group to provide an insight into what and why they do things generally, not case specific. The invitations are dictated by the group and who they would like to hear from.

Perth Head & Neck Cancer Support Group supports patients and carers of Head & Neck Cancer as they have unique and ongoing healthcare needs with many facing physical, psychological and financial challenges upon diagnosis, during and after their treatment.

Who better to support patients then those people who have or are undergoing the Head & Neck Cancer journey?Patient expectations are changing with an increasing focus on their experience of cancer control, including the provision of holistic support and the best possible quality of life.

It is vital to empower and support cancer patientsand their carers to enable them to successfully finish the Head & Neck Cancer journey.