AYA Webinar Series-It Takes a Village: Multidisciplinary and Community-Based Approaches to Supporting AYA Patients Across the Cancer Continuum

It Takes a Village: Multidisciplinary and Community-Based Approaches to Supporting AYA Patients Across the Cancer Continuum

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Video Transcription

Video Summary

This webinar focused on improving cancer care for adolescents and young adults (AYAs), ages roughly 13–39, through multidisciplinary and community-based approaches. Dr. Sayuri Cherubu introduced the final session in the AYA webinar series and its goals: supporting AYA patients across diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.<br /><br />Panelists shared how their programs address the unique challenges AYAs face, including isolation, disrupted education and careers, fertility concerns, sexuality, mental health, financial toxicity, and transitions between pediatric and adult care. Dr. Jennifer Orozco described a community hospital model that emphasizes early behavioral health support, social work, spiritual care, peer mentoring, and fertility counseling. Dr. Emily Haynes outlined UNC’s AYA program, highlighting its growth over 10 years, its holistic needs assessment tool, and its new hub-and-spoke model to extend services to affiliate sites while keeping care close to home. Dr. Kathy Lee Miller discussed Wisconsin’s telemedicine-based AYA clinic, interdisciplinary case review, survivorship education for PCPs, and efforts to expand access statewide. Dr. Sandra Curtin focused on building survivorship services, streamlining care plans, and creating efficient templates and referral systems.<br /><br />The Q&A covered survivorship summaries, provider education, prevention counseling, re-engaging long-term survivors, and equity-focused care. The session ended by directing viewers to AYA resource libraries and webinar recordings.

Keywords

adolescent and young adult cancer

AYA survivorship

multidisciplinary care

community-based oncology

fertility counseling

mental health support

telemedicine clinic

survivorship care plans

health equity