Cancer outstrips all other health and wellbeing issues RedArc receives.
Marking World Cancer Day (4 February), the nurse support service revealed that when looking at data from the past five years – between 2020 and 2024 inclusive – RedArc received a third (33%) more new cancer cases than for the next most supported condition which was mental health.
In fact, in 2024 alone, it received more than two new cancer cases for each individual mental health case.
Christine Husbands, commercial director at RedArc, (pictured) said: “There are a number of important aspects in offering cancer care.
“It is of course crucial to have a wide range of options available, but when there is a wide range, such as in a menu approach, decisions must be made about which type of support, therapy or counselling is going to be the most effective.
“If individuals are left to self-select it can be very daunting and there can be a risk of sub-optimal choices being made, it’s invaluable for them to have a guiding hand throughout the whole support process.”
Husbands added cancer support works best when it treats the person as a whole – taking into account the mental and social factors that affect a person, as well as the disease itself.
“Support that recognises this will have the most impact,” Husbands continued.
“We can advocate this, not just as an idealistic notion, but having provided holistic support to thousands of people, over several decades, we know that practical advice and emotional support are every bit as important as financial assistance, if not more so.”