How long have you been an oncology social worker?
My career in social work began with a foundation of eight years of direct practice experience focused on gerontology in various health care, hospital and multicultural community settings, as well as one year serving as field consultant/lecturer on the teaching faculty in the School of Social Welfare at University of California, Berkeley. In my last social work practice role, I served as executive director for San Francisco Village, a nonprofit that is part of the national movement for healthy aging in place. Prior professional social work roles include a mix of nonprofit management and medical social work roles at the American Society on Aging, Mental Health Association of San Francisco, Self-Help for the Elderly and San Francisco’s Department of Aging & Adult Services, and San Francisco General Hospital.

Where do you currently work? What is your position? How long have you been there?  Include prior oncology social work.
Prompted by my personal diagnoses of cancer in 2008 and again in 2011, I was inspired to pursue doctoral research in psychosocial oncology focused on adolescent and young adult patients, with an unwavering goal to contribute empirical evidence to the knowledge base. Toward this goal, I’m currently a doctoral candidate in Social Welfare at UCLA.

Where did you earn your degree(s)?

• PhD Candidate (ABD), University of California, Los Angeles
• Master of Social Work, University of California, Berkeley
• Bachelor of Journalism, University of Missouri-Columbia

How long have you been a member of AOSW?
Since 2015

Have you attended the AOSW conference? When/where?
Yes. I was awarded a conference scholarship and attended the conference in Tampa in 2016. I presented my research, co-authored with Dr. Brad Zebrack, “What Do Adolescents and Young Adults Facing Cancer Really Want from the Internet? Insights From a Delphi Panel of AYAs.”

Other professional affiliations?

In your role as an oncology social worker/clinician, what is one of your favorite resources to share with clients? Why?
Since I’m a researcher, I share resources with both clients and clinicians. One of my favorites to share with clinicians is a social work practice perspective of Cultural Humility (Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998). This is a lifelong commitment made by clinicians to engage in self-evaluation and self-critique toward developing mutually beneficial and nonpaternalistic clinical care in partnership with patients and their communities. I believe this is at the center of optimal cancer care.

In your experience with survivors, would you share a memorable story with us? One that moved you?
One of my friends and colleagues in the cancer movement was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Despite her decades of work experience counseling young people through diagnoses, treatments and their sequelae, the experience is no less scary for her. She is gaining a depth of first-hand insight that she could not have imagined, even as a long-time cancer care provider. With each newly diagnosed patient that I meet, I am reminded that we can never make assumptions about the struggles our patients experience. Even if we’ve been a patient ourselves, personal experience may allow us to more naturally build rapport, but our individual experiences of cancer are as unique as we are.

In that “little something more” section, what is one thing you might share with us about you personally, one that is outside of your work life?
I’m a writer at heart. I write a cancer blog about my adventures as a young adult cancer survivor with my service dog Malcolm at jadegangster.com. Also, I credit a strong yoga and meditation practice for helping me to maintain a healthy and balanced work life as I continue to manage the sequelae of surviving cancer and its treatments. In 2015, I became a certified yoga teacher with visions of one day sharing this gift with others affected by cancer.