AYA Can - Canadian Cancer Advocacy

AYA CAN hosts virtual community calls four times a year which our stakeholders are invited to attend via email invitation. AYA CAN currently has 325 stakeholders including health care providers researchers patients and caregivers and staff of community based organizations from across Canada. These free conferences which are hosted by the AYA CAN team allow for presentation time from any stakeholder who wishes to do so provided they submit notice of their intended presentation to AYA CAN in advance. Each conference provides stakeholders from across the country with the opportunity to share what everyone is doing in order to help support AYAs affected by cancer and further cancer research and care initiatives. The conferences also help to strengthen and nurture relationships between Canadian not-for-profit and support organizations in the cancer research treatment and care community. Such connections networking opportunities and sharing of knowledge will only lead to improved support of Canadian AYAs affected by cancer. Past topics include the importance of exercise in AYA oncology care oncofertility community based organization programs and events round table highlights from community partners and personal stories from AYA patient advocates.

In 2023 we launched our AYA CAN resource hub website. Although it is still undergoing development our current site contains valuable resources for the AYA community including relevant publications current and upcoming community events opportunities to participate in AYA research novel cancer therapies clinical trials and other topics that will assist AYAs in ensuring they receive the best care. Moving forward we will continue to grow our list of resources and plan to create training for AYA who wish to serve as patient advocates in research and/or government settings. We plan to further expand our website such that it will also include resources to help AYAs find additional support including mental health financial educational and family support. We have also launched our Patient Ambassador program. We are working to develop a series of information that new ambassadors will find helpful so that we can all advocate together and stronger.