Cancer patients, family members, and friends may experience fear, uncertainty, pessimism, anger, fatigue, information overload, isolation, and changes in relationships.

The Supportive Services Program's licensed clinical social workers provide the following areas of psychosocial support:

• Individual counseling and support groups for patients, family, and caregivers
• Patient seminars and workshops
• Special programs for caregivers, teenagers, and children
• Cancer and reproductive health
• Coordination with inpatient services
• Communication with multidisciplinary medical teams
• Pain management
• Support during radiation therapy
• Crisis intervention and psychiatric referrals
• Integrative health programs
• Home healthcare referrals
• Information and referrals to community resources including transportation services and home meal delivery
• Palliative care coordination
• Hospice coordination

Social workers are assigned to patients by the type of cancer they are living with. This goal is achieved in part through private funding of the lung cancer social worker (Stephen E. Banner Fund for Lung Cancer Research) and the colorectal social worker (Team Continuum).