Staff at Westmead Hospital’s Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre are the stars of two new videos designed to give newly diagnosed patients peace of mind. A film project With Knowledge Comes Power was recently unveiled in conjunction with health content specialists Tonic Health Media, and was funded by Dry July.
The films take viewers on a tour of the facility led by staff, who answer frequently asked questions by patients about to start chemotherapy and radiation therapy. “It was something all of us at the centre have been talking about doing for a long time,” Cancer Centre Medical and Network Services Manager Jenny Butler said. “Patients often tell us ‘I don’t remember being told that’ and we believe that that is because they get so much information up front immediately after the diagnosis and often can’t take it all in. The video which they can access at home via our website or a CD allows them to digest the information in their own time, thus preparing them for the road ahead and hopefully allaying their fears of the unknown.”Staff consulted patients on the script, including Henry Wegwitz. Henry wishes the video existed when he was diagnosed. "The first steps would have been easier knowing what was going to happen,” he said. “The video prepares them for what’s coming and what to expect,” he said.Tonic Health Media scripted and produced the videos.Watch them here:
Radiotherapy: http://www.sydneywestcancer.org/patient-care/treatment/radiation-therapy-2/
Chemotherapy: http://www.sydneywestcancer.org/patient-care/treatment/chemotherapy/
