Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center: Lessons Learned from Cancer Survivorship Grant
Written by Carey Wellington, Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center
In July 2025, Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center received an Enhancing Psychosocial Support for Cancer Survivors grant from the Iowa Cancer Consortium and the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Our Why
As a palliative care team at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center in Burlington, IA, we work with individuals who have chronic and serious medical conditions, including cancer survivors in active treatment and those living after or with a cancer diagnosis. Our “why” for starting a cancer survivorship class came from a cancer survivor we worked with. She had survived lymphoma, and while our team was over the moon, she was not as happy and was scared of the future without next steps in place. When asked what she saw when she looked in the mirror, she replied “I was a strong, independent woman and now I am just ugly.” This was the catalyst that drove our team to create and implement a cancer survivorship class.
How We Got Started
Through our why, our nine-week Survivorship 101 class came to life. The curriculum we used for our class came from the A Time to Heal Foundation, which works to support cancer survivors through evidence-based survivorship programs. We were fortunate to have four staff members trained as facilitators in this program. Our facilitators consist of a radiation therapist, a palliative care nurse, and two palliative care social workers. The curriculum is evidence-based with the mission to have participants “create their best life” by the end of the class.
Survivorship 101 Curriculum
Each week of the nine classes have different topics. Some examples of the chapters were Fuel for Healing which focuses on nutrition, Calming Worries and Fears which works on normalizing anxious feelings post treatment, and May the Cycle be Unbroken which focuses on re-building relationships.
Each week started with a PowerPoint presentation of the information taught by two trained facilitators. We created an environment where each member could share their thoughts, feelings, and stories during educational time. Afterwards there was a quick gentle exercise followed by practicing “power tools”. These “power tools” connected to the topics and were meant for participants to do on their own. Some examples of these tools were affirmations, square breathing, and guided meditation. Not all tools resonated with everyone, but participants were encouraged to try them all and find the ones that worked best for them. At the end of the nine-week period we held a small graduation ceremony to celebrate their accomplishments and growth throughout the course. We gave each participant a certificate and a small graduation gift. This was a great wrap-up to the community that we built over nine weeks.
Target Population
Finding the right participants to target for our class was a challenge. The American Cancer Society defines survivors as “anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer, no matter where they are in the course of their disease”. To our team, this definition was very broad, and we wanted to narrow it down to those who would benefit the most from our class. The audience that we targeted for our class are individuals who have fully completed their cancer treatment. This could be someone who completed treatment last month or 5 years ago. Caregivers of survivors were also encouraged to attend. Caregivers are alongside the survivors for the length of their treatment, and there are benefits for them in this course.
Lessons Learned
After completing two nine-week courses, we gathered some feedback from our team along with our participants to find areas where we can grow in the future and things that are important for others who want to create a similar program. We gathered this information through an exit survey that we created.
This survey helped us gather how much they learned, how they felt about the program, and their comments on where to improve. The first important aspect is marketing. We were able to serve seven individuals over our two classes. The main feedback we received was that this class would be even better if more people attended. We created flyers to hand out to our cancer care patients and post throughout the hospital. This was our way to spread the word and connect to our target population.
Along with the flyers, we advertised in town newsletters, radio stations, and at our local Relay for Life to spread the word. We plan on increasing our marketing even more for our next class to try to capture more survivors. Being in a rural area of Iowa, transportation was a barrier at times. Through a grant, we were able to provide gas cards to each participant at every class they attended. We received great feedback that these gas cards were appreciated and key to having participants able to attend each session.
To Wrap It Up
We have found great success from this program and have made a lasting impact on seven lives. We have seen connections be made, and survivors overcome difficulties they didn’t even know they had. Our goal is to continue this program for years to come and to keep impacting the lives of survivors in our community.
Contact Information
- Carey Wellington, BSW email: [email protected]
- Megan Winke, LISW APHSW-C email: [email protected]
- Amber Thornton, RN BSN CHPN email: [email protected]
- Darya Rheinschmidt RT(T) email: [email protected]
About the Author
Carey Wellington is a palliative care social worker at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center. She has been in this role for the last year and a half. She is one of four facilitators of the Survivorship 101 class that is offered at Southeast Iowa Regional Medical Center. She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Iowa in 2022. She is currently working on receiving her master’s degree in social work from Grand Canyon University. In her free time, she enjoys being outside, reading, and spending time with family and friends.