Distress screening identifies people at risk for mental health concerns like anxiety or depression. For cancer patients, who are at higher risk than the general population for both anxiety and depression, it is especially critical to screen for these concerns. Keep reading to learn how our distress screening program can foster better outcomes for people with cancer and lower healthcare utilization and spending.

The demands of caregiving can be hard physically, financially, and emotionally. All these factors put caregivers at risk for substantial distress that can impact their quality of life and physical and mental health. To help address caregivers’ needs, CSC created a web-based distress screening, referral, and support program for family caregivers and anyone who is a care partner for someone living with cancer. “The number-one feedback we get is that there’s no other program out there like this right now,” says CSC’s Vice President of Research Alexandra Zaleta, Ph.D. Read on to learn more.

From May 31st through June 4th, the Cancer Support Community will be in Chicago, IL at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Annual Conference. As part of this conference, our Research and Training Institute (RTI) released findings of a study on over 200 adult patients with a diagnosis of lung cancer.

Whether you are familiar with the phrase distress screening or are seeing it for the first time, the results we are sharing will show how important this tool is for patients diagnosed with cancer.

Anyone who faces a cancer diagnosis is at risk for experiencing an elevated risk of distress. A study by the Cancer Experience Registry of the Cancer Support Community provides convincing evidence that culture can have a powerful impact on the type and degree of that distress.