About The Program
Finding My Way is an online self-help coping program that offers information, suggestions, and support for women and men who have recently been diagnosed with a cancer being treated with the aim of cure.
The program was developed as part of a clinical trial for anyone who was currently going through cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy), or had been diagnosed in the past 6 months. We have now made Finding My Way publicly available, so that anyone with cancer is welcome to use it; however, it may be most helpful to you if you have been recently diagnosed with early stage cancer.
This program offers 6 modules of information and interactive features (worksheets, online activities, quizzes, relaxation / meditation, and a personal note-taking feature), relevant to your cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Please note: because this program is designed as self-help, it is not aimed at people experiencing crisis situations, and we do not have the ability to respond to concerns out of business hours. If you are experiencing a crisis, we recommend contacting Lifeline (ph: 13 11 14).
Website & Program Development
The program is based on a print self-help workbook that the program authors developed and evaluated as part of Dr Lisa Beatty’s PhD research in 2007-2008. The program authors then went on to develop and pilot-test an online version of this program from 2009-2012. In 2012 Dr Beatty and Professor Koczwara, along with a team of local and national researchers, received a 3-year National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) project grant to update the website and test its helpfulness in a national study, which concluded in 2016. As you can see, in total this program has been 10 years in the making!
Program Authors
Dr Lisa Beatty, PhD (Clin Psych) is a Cancer Council SA Postdoctoral Fellow and a Clinical Psychologist in the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer at Flinders University. Her areas of research focuses on promoting adjustment to cancer, and developing accessible psychological interventions for people affected by cancer.
Prof. Tracey Wade, MClin Psych, PhD, has worked in a number of settings as a clinical psychologist, including general hospitals. She is currently a Professor in the School of Psychology, at Flinders University. Her clinical and research interests are in eating disorders and cancer adjustment.
Prof. Bogda Koczwara, BMBS FRACP, MBioethics, is a medical oncologist with an interest in breast cancer management and is the Head of the Survivorship program at the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer at Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. Her main interests focus on management of breast cancer, supportive care, patient communication and decision-making.
Consumers / Health Professionals: The authors developed the content in collaboration with many cancer survivors through a series of discussion groups, and with other cancer health professionals, including nurses, cancer care coordinators, pharmacists, and radiotherapists.
Website Developers
The Enabled team have been pleased to work with the Finding My Way team to help support cancer patients online. Enabled is a cross-platform digital media company with services across mobile, touch, web, and motion. To find out more visit their website.
Video Production by Liquify Creative. To find out more visit their website.
About the Research
As mentioned above, Finding My Way was developed as part of a research study, funded by the NHMRC, and is now publicly available with generous support from the Flinders Foundation.
What participating involves
When you register, you will be asked to:
- Complete an online survey at the time of registering for the program (this takes about 10 minutes);
- Complete the 6-module program;
- Complete a booster module one-month after the main program has ended;
- If you are happy to, complete one optional further online surveys after finishing the 6-module program, so we can track how effective the program is.
These surveys are an important part of evaluating the program. From asking everyone who takes part to do them, we are able to then evaluate who benefited the most from the program.
How we evaluate the program
Our evaluation of the program (how people use and may benefit from the program) may be published in several ways. First, the results may be discussed / presented at various national and international conferences. Second, the results may be published in medical, health, and psychology journals. Stories may also appear in the media. It is important to know that the identity of all individuals who participate is kept confidential.
If you are interested in hearing the broader evaluation results of the study, you are welcome to contact us.
Privacy and Security
All personal details you supply are kept private and confidential. No identifying information will be released to anyone outside of the research team. For further information about our Privacy Policy, please see our ‘Terms of Use’ link, where the full privacy policy is available to view.
We have made every effort to ensure the that all data that is obtained through this program is secured and protected. Specific details about how data is secured can be found in the ‘Terms of Use’ section of the website.
Questions?
If you have further questions or queries, or are experiencing technical difficulties, you are welcome to contact us at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Please note, further information about what is involved should you decide to sign up is provided during program registration.
