Comprehensive online care for cancer patients

The COI Foundation Council has witnessed for more than 40 years the great need of cancer patients in Mexico, the looks of hope were the reason to work to provide real solutions. It has been years of understanding the difficult path that patients in vulnerable situations go through to have an adequate diagnosis and treatment. Today the situation is more alarming than ever, and the needs have multiplied significantly.

 

Waiting times for patients are filled with uncertainty. The stories of agony, grief and frustration have heightened. The situation has confronted us with the fact that thousands of cancer patients are not capable of receiving the necessary treatment and moreover families facing death and lose. 

Patients must take their chemotherapy, radiotherapy in person and invest their resources to transport themselves. It is difficult for them to pay for important services for their quality of life, such as emotional support and rehabilitation.

At Fundación COI we have rethought our projects to offer access to timely comprehensive treatment to innumerable people who need it. In the cancer centers in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Tijuana, we offer care to patients in vulnerable situations providing the best quality attention and treatments.

To support the economy of patients and their quality of life, we use technology to give them virtual rehabilitation and emotional support workshops

Most patients have a telephone. In this way they can have access to zoom or Facebook lives to have valuable content for their emotional support and rehabilitation from home. In this way, you no longer invest your resources to take them in person. The way to impact their lives will be to manage their emotions and resolve conflicts. Likewise, they will be able to prevent developing secondary effects to the mastectomy such as Lymphedema where they have an increase in the weight of their arm. Performing exercises at home properly is the difference. We will also bring content from medical oncologists to ask frequently asked questions that they have not been able to see in consultation.

We have given these workshops for 6 years, during the pandemic we took on the task of doing it virtually and we identified that it was very useful for them and that we could reach patients from very distant points. Who invites the workshops is the volunteer team, made up of survivors who give a great example of life to patients. At the moment we have contact with the specialists, we have the patients who are in treatment and we can spread this content online with the patients.

For us it is very important to add international resources to our country. Financial health will consist of having different sources of financing. We have patients who are receiving their treatment in COI and others who are in public hospitals and do not have these basic complementary services for their health.

Today there are many patients who do not have the resources to travel to have these services It is innovative as our specialists are oncology specialists and are not usually available online. If it were not for this project, these patients could not count on rehabilitation. The pandemic prompted us to teach them in person and we were able to bring together patients from distant points that do not usually have the resources.

Fundación COI has the mission of helping protect the health rights of cancer patients as well as receiving a quality and dignified treatment. Up to this day  we have supported more than 4,000 patients in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Tijuana.

We have 3 volunteer teams, with 40 donors. The alliance with 9 Foundations is essential to bring quality content to patients.

We carry lists and photographs of each online course, as well as quality surveys to identify areas of opportunity. The psychologists keep the patient file and give us feedback respecting the confidentiality of the information

Adult women and men in a vulnerable situation with a diagnosis of cancer have violated the right to health to have quality treatment and dignified treatment. The strategic objectives are to support the access and empowerment of cancer patients through rehabilitation workshops and emotional support

Having rehabilitation and emotional support online is thanks to technology and with this we save time, money and distance so that patients have quality care in a timely manner

Women are mainly affected by cancer and they are also pillars of their home and must be present to take care of their family. Helping them take care of their health is significant for the social fabric and to empower them so that they can resume their life project as soon as they finish their treatment.