On occasion of World Cancer Day 2023, Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation had an eventful day packed with cancer awareness activities for different sections of the society :
- Bangalore's BMS Degree College for Women and Sri Shankara Cancer Hospital conducted an awareness walk of 2 km distance to emphazise on the preventability of cancer.
- "Children for Cancer," was a flagship event of Sri Shankara National Centre for Cancer Prevention and Research where children of Chintamani taluk participated in various creative competitions to talk about cancer and took part in a cancer awareness walk in Chintamani town.
- "Hallmarks of Cancer," a lecture for doctors by our professor of molecular research
- Lectures on cancer by our doctors for various groups in Bangalore, Chintamani, and Kolkata
- Cancer awareness at Urban Health Centre, Gavipuram Guttahalli by Sri Shankara College of Nursing
- Fun and exciting activities for our paediatric cancer patients by various organizations.
At Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation, we believe that closing the care gap is a continuous and relentless effort.
Beyond raising awareness of cancer among the general public on World Cancer Day, Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation has been striving to provide accessible, affordable, high quality and equitable Cancer care since its inception. Extended support is provided to patients through:
- Free dormitory accommodation to the families of patients who are travelling from outside of Bangalore
- 7 Free hygienic, dietetic, customized meals are provided everyday to all general ward patients to ensure their nutritional needs are taken care of as adequate nutritional is one of the pillars for effective treatment.
- Long stay centre for families of paediatric cancer patients
- Temporary employment for patients’ caregiver for families in need of additional financial support
Cancer care nursing requires specialized technical skills and a lot of mental strength to deal with the highly stressful and emotionally taxing situations while caring for often fragile patients. Through Sri Shankara College of Nursing, Sri Shankara Cancer Foundation has been training young nurses to be specialised oncology care nurses since 2018. BSc in nursing with exposure to cancer from the second year of their degree and postgraduate courses in oncology nursing have proven to have a great impact on building the oncology nursing workforce.
Cancer treatment extends beyond the walls of the OT for surgery, wards for chemotherapy or radiation proof rooms for radiotherapy. At SSCF, we recognize that care gaps are often hidden as the emotional turmoil that is faced by the patient and their family and psycho oncology, support groups, post treatment care training for the caregiver and bereavement counselling are some of the ways that this gap is being bridged.