Survivorship and Supportive Care Program
The Survivorship and Supportive Care Program offers our patients and their families a broad array of clinical services and research aimed at improving quality of life while dealing with cancer and serious blood disorders at the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute. These include:
- Cancer Survivorship
- Medical Supportive Care
- Neuropsychology
- Psychology
- Health Education
- Teen and Family Support
- School Reintegration
- Adolescent/Young Adult Cancer
The mission of the Survivorship and Supportive Care Program is to offer clinical care and related research aimed at optimizing health-related quality of life across the continuum of survivorship for patients treated for cancer or serious blood diseases in the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Our goal is to provide superior care that improves health and reduces the physical and psychosocial burden often associated with treatment of cancer and serious blood disorders.
The Survivorship and Supportive Care Program is currently organized into four services:
- LIFE Cancer Survivorship & Transition Service
- HOPE Behavioral Health, Neuropsychology and Education Service
- Medical Supportive Care Service
- Adolescent/Young Adult Cancer Service
LIFE Cancer Survivorship & Transition Service
The Long-Term Information, Follow-Up and Evaluation (LIFE) Cancer Survivorship & Transition Service provides medical care and psychosocial support for long-term survivors of childhood and adolescent cancer at the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute.
Services offered include:
- Medical evaluation and care management
- Emotional and social support
- Health education
- Assistance with transition of survivorship care to adult-focused providers
HOPE Behavioral Health, Neuropsychology and Education Service
The HOPE Behavioral Health, Neuropsychology and Education Service at CHLA provides multidisciplinary psychosocial support and health education to patients diagnosed and treated in our Cancer and Blood Disease Institute.
Services offered include:
- Psychology
- Neuropsychology
- School Transition and Re-entry (STAR)
- Teen and Family Support
- Health Education
Medical Supportive Care Service
The Medical Supportive Care Service at the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute advances care that reduces side effects and other negative consequences of cancer, serious blood diseases, and their treatments. In serving patients and families, this service works closely with multiple professional disciplines including other medical specialties, nursing, psychology, pharmacy, nutrition, and physical/occupational therapy. We aim to ensure that, in addition to their cancer or blood disease treatments, our patients receive all state-of-the-art medications and other interventions that will improve their health and quality of life during and after treatment.
This service conducts a wide variety of research studies in medical supportive care within the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute. Some current examples of our supportive care research include preventing life-threatening infections, preventing chemotherapy-induced hearing loss, and improving nutrition and physical activity during cancer therapy.
Adolescent/Young Adult Cancer Service
The Adolescent/Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Service meets the unique medical and psychosocial needs of cancer patients age 15 years and older at the Cancer and Blood Disease Institute. Our AYA Cancer Service is part of an innovative, integrated AYA Program that spans CHLA and the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, called AYA@USC, for patients age 15-39 years old. One of the most important roles of the AYA Cancer Service is providing information to patients about options for preserving their fertility, which is the ability to have children after cancer treatment. The AYA Service coordinates closely with the HOPE Teen and Family Support Service to help patients and their families cope with the initial diagnosis, decision-making about clinical trials, physical symptoms, emotional distress, school and work challenges, and relationships. The AYA Service also works closely with the cancer treatment team caring for each patient.