Cancer Support Community Montana partners with oncology and medical teams to provide integrative care that improves health outcomes for patients while reducing the strain on the medical team. Research has found the following improvements related to cancer care and the costs associated for people who access psychosocial services:

• Patients with depression have higher health care utilization (33.66 visits vs. 18.8 visits for those without depression)
• Patients with breast cancer participating in a six-week cognitive-behavioral session, billed the health care system 23.5% less than the control arm and a total of $6,199 less over the course of the study (Simpson et al, 2001)
• Men with prostate cancer participating in group intervention decreased health care contacts from 10 to 4.4 over a 6-month period while the control group remained stable at 8 contacts (Pennebaker, 2000)
• According to Andersen et al. (2004, 2008, 2010), patients with breast cancer engaged in social and emotional intervention have significant benefits over those who do not:
  • 45% reduced risk of breast cancer recurrence
  • 56% reduced risk of breast cancer death
  • Median time to death was 3.2 years for the intervention arm and 1.7 years for the assessment arm demonstrating a 1.5 year increase in total life expectancy.
  • 41% reduced risk of death following recurrence for the intervention arm with immune indices significantly higher among those in the intervention arm
  • Increase in T-cell development
  • Decrease in anxiety
  • Increase in family support
  • Decrease in number of smokers
  • Fewer symptoms/toxicities from cancer treatment

The services of Cancer Support Community Montana satisfy many of the CoC Accreditation standards.

CSC is a hub for cancer-related information in Montana. Click below to download an array of cancer resources.