Rethinking Gaps in Care
When Rethink started in 2001, we were primarily focused on breast cancer awareness and health. Eventually, we started hearing from young women who were being diagnosed with the disease about their unique needs. Our slogan, “The numbers are small but the needs are real” rang true for so many, but we needed research to back it up so that healthcare providers, policy makers and the public knew it too. In 2012, Rethink published the first ever quantitative study on the needs of young women with breast cancer in Canada. This research led to a set of recommended Care Guidelines for Young Women with Breast Cancer to inform young women of the care they should be receiving and to inform health care professionals of the unique issues that young women face which should be addressed when treating young breast cancer patients.
Rethinking Breast Cancer Events
Back in the day, stuffy galas and flashy walks dominated the scene when it came to breast cancer events. Often these happenings were out of reach for the young set or alienating for those that didn’t wear their pink ribbon pride. So bring on the Bra and Panties party! The Rethink Romp! And of course BoobyBall. In 2001, thanks to two forward thinking pals who wanted to celebrate their recently diagnosed best friend, Sarah O’Regan, Boobyball was born! Fast forward 15 years later, and BoobyBall has raised over $3.8 million, takes place in several cities across Canada, wins best in show for events, and engages a sold-out room in a cause that often overlooks young people. This year we expanded the event to the next gen and created BoobyBall mini!
Rethinking Advocacy
In 2011, Jill Anzaurt wasn’t able to gain access to the drug Herceptin, a potentially life-saving but expensive targeted treatment that can help patients with aggressive HER-2+ breast cancer, because her tumour was deemed too small to treat. Rethink worked with Jill, a brave and determined young mother of two, and launched a letter writing campaign to the Ontario Minister of Health, which spread like wildfire Jill’s powerful story coupled with the advocacy efforts of Rethink and other breast cancer organizations played a major role in the announcement of Cancer Care Ontario’s Evidence-Building Program, which approved OHIP coverage of Herceptin for eligible patients with HER2 positive breast cancer and tumours of all sizes. Rethink continues to put young women at the center of making changes to improve the lives of all women and recently celebrated our latest win with Oncotype Dx testing.
Rethinking Breast Cancer Fundraising
When Rethink Breast Cancer started in 2001, our then 30-year-old founder, MJ DeCoteau, felt that pink teddy bears and angel pins were not speaking to her or her peers about breast cancer awareness. There had to be something more exciting and relatable when it came to engaging young people in the cause. So she picked up the phone and brought the global fashion-forward Fashion Targets Breast Cancer campaign to Canada. Over 10 years the FTBC campaign engaged thousands of young people in the cause and raised over $1.9 million in Canada.
Rethinking the Definition of Cancer Survivor
Unfortunately, not every one “beats” breast cancer. Women with metastatic breast cancer don’t overcome or beat their breast cancer and they therefore feel alienated from the survivor movement. In 2013, Rethink made a conscience decision to include women with metastatic breast cancer in everything we do. And help shine a light on the needs of those living with incurable cancer, like in our documentary I AM ANNA. The film has been screened globally at medical conferences and Anna Craig’s voice continues to advocate for those living with incurable cancer everywhere.
Rethinking Public Awareness
A few years ago, our Boobyball committee worked with MTV Canada host Aliya-Jasmine Sovani to create a promo video called Save the Boobs. The cheeky video went viral and everyone from The View to CNN wanted to speak to Rethink! Our founder, MJ DeCoteau, was interviewed on popular talk shows and even Jay Leno played the video on air.
Rethinking Cancer Conversations
In 2009, Rethink created Breast Fest, the first ever film festival devoted to unpacking the tough topics that surround cancer which no one wants to talk about and showcasing the stories of those impacted by the disease. Breast Fest morphed into a full fledged arts festival when Rethink brought the award winning Scar Project to Canada in 2014. The photo exhibit captured the hearts and minds of the Toronto arts scene and made us rethink our definitions of conventional beauty.
Rethinking Breast Health
If you are a young woman concerned about breast health, what would get your attention? Our “studies” showed hot guys, of course! In 2011, Rethink launched Your Man Reminder an education campaign encouraging young women to be their own advocates and take charge of their breast health. What started with a health app turned into a global PSA sensation, which has won awards and has been viewed more than 7.4 million times on YouTube. We are super flattered that the campaign continues to be copied globally by other breast cancer orgs and has won awards for it’s innovation in the marketing world.
Rethinking the Breast Cancer Patient’s Story
Pre-Rethink, the face of breast cancer was an older patient, in a hospital gown on the cover of a pamphlet. Although this woman’s story was often one of struggle and triumph, there were aspects of her life that were not necessarily impacted like fertility, having young children, dating or having to halt a career that has barely gotten started. In 2010, Rethink produced our first film called About Her, which followed the lives of 9 young women with breast cancer from across Canada. The stories were raw, truthful and shed some light on the many issues that young women with breast cancer face along with their families and caregivers. The film went on to win a Canadian Screen Award for best documentary, has been screened in many countries worldwide and broadcasted on national television several times.
Rethinking Cause Marketing
You’ve seen the hundreds of pink products for sale each October. But what if buying a pink mobile phone meant you could also help a person in treatment communicate with their support system? In 2008 Rethink had the opportunity to work with Telus on an innovative cause marketing campaign called Technology & Treatment. The program raised over $1 million for our work, and the company donated pink phones to young breast cancer patients so that they could stay connected with their loved ones. Win-win!
Rethinking Breast Cancer Risk Assessment + Early Detection
Rethink has always taken a vocal stance on provincial screening programs, eschewing hype and embracing evidence-based recommendations and specialized programs like the High Risk Screening Program. When it comes to young women, one size does not fit all in risk assessment or treatment for breast cancer. We believe precision medicine is where it’s at and that treatment for breast cancer is moving towards personalized medicine that takes into account an individual’s unique biological features.
Rethinking Breast Cancer Resources
Rethink has always encouraged patients to be well-educated and informed about their cancer care at every stage. While we don’t advocate for any one treatment plan or program, we believe that young women are able to make the best choices for themselves when they are armed with information. Resources like Cancer Fabulous Diaries, Talking to your kids about breast cancer: A guide for parents, LiveLaughLearn and the Metastatic Diaries serve up information that addresses the unique needs of younger women in an honest and authentic way.
Rethinking Support
Young women with breast cancer have unique needs and therefore need tailored support. Traditional support groups offered in healthcare settings, community centres and hospitals, full of much older women, didn’t fit. LiveLaughLearn was anything but traditional. Started in Calgary in 2009 the ground breaking program featured guest speakers on a variety of hot topics like navigating sexuality and cancer to reconstruction options, while giving women the opportunity to connect with each other. After spreading to 5 cities across Canada, Rethink revolutionized the program and expanded it online thorough a video series to reach all women, everywhere.
Rethinking Breast Cancer Research
When it comes to funding breast cancer research it is hard to know where the money goes when it is filtered through foundations and institutions. Rethink wanted to have an impact on supporting breast cancer research and felt the best way to do that was investing in the future of research. That’s why in 2003 we created The Career Development Awards – Engaging the top Clinician Scientists in Canada to help us cultivate the next generation of bright, young researchers. And we continue to support unique research opportunities to benefit young people like the Babytime study.
Rethinking Breast Cancer in Young Women
After 15 years of supporting, advocating for, and educating young people concerned about and affected by breast cancer we can safely say WE ARE THE YOUNG WOMEN’S BREAST CANCER MOVEMENT. Rethinking got us here in the first place, but reinventing ourselves and evolving with the people we serve will take us into the future. Thanks to a little revolutionizing we are on your computers, your cell phones and in your networks, and we are here to stay. Until it’s time to Rethink again…
For more info on Rethink Breast Cancer and ways to get involved click here!