MY LIFE Matters: TNBC Patient Voices Issue 2022 - 49

BETTER SUPPORT Conversation
Q. You have dedicated your career to helping
patients. Introduce yourself and your position in
patient care and support?
A. My name is Tara Schapmire, I hold a PhD in Social Work
and have worked as an oncology and palliative care social
worker for many years where I was part of an amazing interdisciplinary
team of professionals. Currently, my career is focused
on teaching and being part of research in psychosocial
oncology and palliative care with another interdisciplinary
team of educators and researchers. I still facilitate a support
group for women living with metastatic breast cancer.
Q. What is an interdisciplinary team?
A. The interdisciplinary team is a team of healthcare professionals
focused on collaborating to provide the best possible
cancer care. I believe collaborative practice promotes
patient-centered care and improves health outcomes. Teambased
care is the only way to begin to meet the " whole person "
needs of ALL those affected by cancer.
Q. Can you explain research in psychosocial oncology,
what does this mean? How would you
like to improve the patient experience?
A. Psychosocial oncology research asks questions and designs
research projects to investigate what kinds of psychological
and social supports best meet the quality of life needs for people
affected by cancer. First, we try to understand the lived
experiences of those affected by cancer, all along the cancer
trajectory-from screening and genetic testing through
diagnosis and treatment through survivorship and/or end of
life care. Then we begin to try to determine the best way to
support their coping and improve their quality of life. While
medical cancer research seeks to understand, treat, and cure
cancer with biological interventions, psychosocial research
focuses on social and behavioral aspects of living with and
adjusting to cancer. When we do this right, we can help those
affected by cancer to navigate the entire trajectory of the cancer
experience more successfully. This goes for those living
with the disease as well as others affected, such as family and
friends (the support system).
Q. What is the significance of a support system
for someone newly diagnosed or living with
cancer?
A. It's important for cancer patients to have a support system
because cancer is a life-changing event for an individual and
those who love them. The impact of cancer creates a ripple
effect that impacts the family, friends, and community members
that are a part of your world.
It is also important to remember that people bring their
life with them to the cancer diagnosis. Their life is cancer in
context. This context can include their functional and dysfunctional
coping systems, their supportive and constraining
families and friends, and their socioeconomic stability or
instability-these things can have tremendous impacts on
the treatment and survivorship experiences for the individIt's
important for cancer
patients to have a support
system because cancer is a
life-changing event for an
individual and those who love
them. The impact of cancer
creates a ripple effect that
impacts the family, friends, and
community members that
are a part of your world.
ual. No individual in the support system can do all of it, it
is a group effort.
Q. Why is a support system so important?
A. The impacts of cancer can be most devastating when a
support system is not put into place and the roles and contributions
of each member are not understood or supported
by everyone involved. No one individual living with cancer
and no individual member of a support system can do it all. It
takes everyone.
MY LIFE MATTERS
TNBC PATIENT VOICES ISSUE 2022
49
MY LIFE Matters: TNBC Patient Voices Issue 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MY LIFE Matters: TNBC Patient Voices Issue 2022
