Free cancer support book for Auckland patients

PRESS RELEASE FOR AUCKLAND MEDIA – 8 April 2009

Free cancer support book signals new dimension to cancer care for Auckland patients

Auckland City Hospital’s Oncology Department has just been gifted 2,500 copies of the country’s most popular cancer patient support book Life, Happiness… & Cancer authored by six-time cancer survivor Phil Kerslake. All new cancer patients at the hospital can receive a copy of the support resource free of charge if they choose to, under a program established by the author and called the ‘Book-to-Patients Scheme.’

Kerslake: “I commenced the Book-to-Patients Scheme in Wellington last year. Working with the Wellington Division of the Cancer Society we secured a benefactor to purchase 3,000 copies of my book direct from the publishers to support all new patients in the Division’s area for a full year. Following the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the Wellington Scheme, late in 2008 I approached Roche Products Ltd and asked if they would consider supporting my Scheme in Auckland. I was delighted that they agreed to fund my Scheme in Auckland for a 6-month stock – 2,500 books.”

On commencing the Book-to-Patients Scheme in Wellington, Dr Andrew Simpson, Director of the Wellington Blood & Cancer Centre summed up the current situation well: “We as clinicians are often focused on the diagnosis and the disease and sometimes, without meaning to, we don’t put as much emphasis on the psychological aspects and support for patients. This book addresses some of those issues”.

Life, Happiness… & Cancer, in its third print, is now believed to be New Zealand’s most successful cancer support book ever, with over 11,000 purchases in New Zealand since its release in March 2006, an edition recently released in Australia, and under contract, further international editions for Continental Africa, Poland and Turkey.

Cancer survivor Kerslake has made it his personal mission to actively support cancer patients since emerging from successful treatments for his lifetime 6th cancer encounter in December 2004. Now a District Health Board executive, he speaks in his personal time to thousands of New Zealand cancer patients and cancer support and medical professionals annually on the themes from his book.

The real value of patients having direct access to this book free of charge, says Kerslake, is the current paradigm of patient behaviour in New Zealand. “Research suggests that most of us try to go it alone. We don’t think to look for support resources, and in the process we forgo avenues that can be of immense benefit to us and in my view, our survival aspirations”.

Only around 10% of patients are believed to seek out a cancer support organisation for information, advice and emotional support. Life, Happiness… & Cancer provides practical advice and methods to help manage the many challenges that cancer creates, and encourages patients to utilise the services offered by New Zealand’s cancer support organisations.

Dr Richard Sullivan, Director of Medical Oncology at Auckland City Hospital was open to the concept of commencing the Scheme when approached late in 2008, and has recently accepted the books planned for distribution to his patients.

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