Receiving any diagnosis can feel incredibly daunting. Receiving a cancer diagnosis is life-altering.
Despite doctors, nurses and health professionals offering support in any way they can, it’s difficult to ask all the right questions when you’re processing how your life is changing.
The PA Cancer Wellness Initiative’s (CWI) online portal is a lifeboat of answers in a sea of uncertainty. No matter where a patient is on their treatment journey there are a wealth of tools at their disposal.
Established by Princess Alexandra Hospital’s (PA) Cancer Services department and funded by the donors of the PA Research Foundation, the online patient portal was created in 2021, providing patients with a digital space to seek answers.
Consultation with patients directly informed the design of the CWI website, ensuring the platform was shaped by and speaks to real patient experiences.
The portal empowers patients to take control of some of the aspects of their cancer journey and provides support and guidance for patients at each stage..
Theres no handbook for having cancer, everyone navigates their health journey in a different way and there’s no right or wrong experience. The platform aims to provide guidance so that patients have a place to begin to understand their changed reality. It assists patients with topics such as navigating difficult conversations with kids, managing finances, coping with side effects and much more.
“We are beyond proud to fund such a useful tool for cancer patients, one that continues to provide real support to patients no matter what stage of their journey they are on,” PA Research Foundation CEO Damian Topp said.
“The site not only helps patients to sort through the misinformation they come across online, but it also provides resources backed by evidence to guide them in their treatment choices.”
More than1500 patients and family members accessed the site in 2025 alone, and use of the site has also increased by 10 per cent each year since its creation in 2019.
It is thanks to donors like you who make the PA Research Foundation your place to give, that vital patient-focused platforms like the wellness initiative are made possible.
