Celebrating 10 years of the Advanced Breast Cancer Group!
This May marked the 10th anniversary of the Advanced Breast Cancer Group, which began in May 1999 as a weekly professionally led group in West End, and which has grown to a Statewide service providing support to women with metastatic or secondary cancer, their partners and families through weekly and monthly groups delivered face to face and by telephone, the website, www.advancedbreastcancergroup.org
national online forum, www.bcaus.org.au
and a DVD “You’re Not Alone”.
Highlights of the past 10 years include:
2001 commenced delivering the group by telephone in addition to face to face
2002 Grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund to evaluate the feasibility and benefits of the weekly face to face and telephone group.
2003 funding obtained from Queensland Health (Mental Health Branch) and a monthly group for Partners and Families provided.
2004 A Statewide video link up, using facilities of Women’s Health Queensland Wide, held to enable rural women and Brisbane women to connect names to faces.
2005 Preliminary outcomes from standardised measures presented to Dr David Spiegel’s team at Stanford University, California.
2006 Launch of website for the service www.advancedbreastcancergroup.org by Anna Bligh, then Deputy Premier of Queensland.
2006 Presented 12 month outcomes to the Society for Psychotherapy Research Conference in Edinburgh.
2007Embarked on making a documentary
2008 Publication of article in Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy Research on clinical effectiveness of group.
2008 Launch of the DVD resource “You’re not alone: a film about living with secondary breast cancer”
2008 Partnered with the Aussie Breast Cancer Forum www.bcaus.org.au
2008 Presented poster on 2 year outcomes to COSA conference in Sydney.
In ten years this tiny organisation has developed from providing a service to a small number of women in consulting rooms in West End, to reaching many thousands of women around the country. We would like to thank all those who have supported us along the way, and hope for your continued support in the future.
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Mary O’Brien and Pia Hirsch Project Managers & group therapists |
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 Tom O’Brien, Supervisor |
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Tina Gardiner, Administration Officer
Jill Harris, Research Assistant |
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Breaking Nails
One of the women in the group has found that Sally Hanson’s Hard As Nails, available from the supermarket, has helped ease breaking and splitting nails.