A Huddersfield charity has joined forces with a global digital cancer care company to provide vital wellbeing help for young cancer patients through a special phone app.

The worldwide company, Careology, already has information from the likes of the NHS, Macmillan and Cancer Research UK on the app and has now added Slaithwaite-based charity the Ella Dawson Foundation too.

In the UK 35 people aged from their late teens to early 30s are diagnosed with cancer every day – a 22% increase since the early 2000s – and the app gives them instant information about the specialist help they can get from the Ella Dawson Foundation such as managing their mental health, finding like-minded friends online and exercise.

Former Greenhead College student Ella was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of blood cancer in 2019 shortly after graduating from Newcastle University. Over the course of two years she underwent constant and intense treatment. However, the cancer kept returning and, sadly, Ella passed away in July 2021.

Although Ella received outstanding clinical and medical care, she noticed there was a great need for psychological, physical, wellbeing, nutritional and social support. So she set out to create a blueprint of how young adults with cancer could be better supported holistically and the Foundation is now carrying this on in her memory.

The app was initially launched with the world-famous Royal Marsden Hospital in London, a leading centre for teenagers and young people with cancer. It also has features on it including symptom and side effect monitoring, medication schedules and tracking, journaling and helpful articles to help patients self-manage their treatment at home.

The app is so advanced clinicians can see the data their patients enter onto the app to monitor how they are doing so if a symptom such as nausea becomes severe, care teams will be able to intervene before the problem becomes more complex.

 

 

Natasha Dawson

 

Ella’s sister Natasha, who helped set up the Ella Dawson Foundation, said: “Through the two years of Ella’s treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia she saw the vital importance of wellbeing support but found this rarely available and difficult to access.

“To be able to provide dedicated wellbeing support to young adults living with and beyond cancer is a huge driver for me and the Ella Dawson Foundation.

“By working with Careology and making our content for younger people available through its patient app, we will be able to reach more people who need us as they navigate their diagnosis and treatment.

“This age range has a unique set of needs to feel, move, eat and live well, through and beyond cancer. We, like Careology, want to make sure we reach every single person who could benefit from our support.”

 

 

Amy Chilton, who was 23 when she was treated at the Royal Marsden, said: “Navigating appointments and managing symptoms can be overwhelming during such a challenging time and Careology is an incredibly valuable tool for patients.

“While the support I received during treatment was exceptional, I found it really hard to find normality again once my treatment ended.

“Fortunately, I came across the Ella Dawson Foundation which helped me regain my fitness and health through a variety of personal training sessions, yoga classes and nutrition plans.

“Having an app like Careology to guide patients to information, support and organisations such as the Ella Dawson Foundation, both during and after treatment, is an amazing idea. It makes these resources accessible to everyone and takes a lot of pressure off patients.”

For more on the Ella Dawson Foundation go to Ella Dawson Foundation – Helping young adults live well with cancer

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.