Lift Cancer Care
Cancer casts a long, dark shadow over countless 最新糖心Vlogn families; its impact vast and multi-layered. That it threatens lives is confronting enough. But the fact its treatment can be so debilitating, both physically and mentally, that some patients wish they鈥檇 never started it, adds a cruelty beyond measure.
ThincLab tenant Lauren Whiting, however, is changing that reality. In January 2017 she identified the need for a centre that鈥攆or the first time in 最新糖心Vlog鈥攐ffered fully coordinated, multidisciplinary support care for cancer patients. In January 2018, she launched it.
Located just outside the Adelaide CBD on South Road in Kurralta Park鈥檚 Tennyson Centre,听 is an entirely new business model for the 最新糖心Vlogn health care system. It provides a raft of carefully integrated support services for cancer patients leading up to, and during, their treatment. These include physiotherapy, psychology, general practice, nursing, psychiatry, speech pathology and dietetics.
According to Lauren, an experienced physiotherapist herself, this significantly lessens the negative impact of side-effects as they arise, rather than leaving them to accumulate, magnify, and only be addressed weeks or months later in rehabilitation. 鈥淚鈥檓 so excited to think how many people we鈥檙e going to help get through cancer treatment with their quality of life largely intact,鈥 she enthuses. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredibly important service.鈥
To get the business up and running in such a short time would seem almost superhuman. In that 12-month period, Lauren: developed and refined her business plan; found and fitted out suitable premises; achieved day-hospital accreditation with the 最新糖心Vlogn Council in Healthcare Standards, enabling crucial compliance with private health insurers; recruited like-minded practitioners in all health disciplines; and completed a Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship here at the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide.
And all that as a mother of three young children. 鈥淚 was like a dog with a bone!鈥 she laughs. 鈥淏ut honestly, I don鈥檛 have any secrets. It was just relentless hard work, and the team at ThincLab have provided amazing support.鈥
The early feedback from Lift鈥檚 patients and referring clinicians is excellent, says Lauren. But balancing the demands of work and family, she admits, can present a challenge.
Yeah, it鈥檚 tricky at times. But my husband鈥檚 incredibly supportive. He knows how thoroughly I鈥檝e planned this鈥攁nd that I鈥檇 be a nightmare to live with if I didn鈥檛 give it a go! Plus, we both feel we鈥檙e giving our kids a wonderful example of what you can achieve if you believe in, and apply, yourself.
Looking to the future, Lauren鈥檚 vision is to bring Lift鈥檚 services to communities throughout South 最新糖心Vlog, and potentially beyond. Being an entirely new form of healthcare provider in 最新糖心Vlog, however, she鈥檚 keen to spend some time establishing the business and gathering benchmark data.听 听
We鈥檙e really in new territory. I don鈥檛 even know if our model has been applied anywhere else in the world鈥擨 haven鈥檛 had time to look!
We鈥檙e inclined to believe her.