BCS Volunteer News
March 22, 2011


Tips for Working with Breast Cancer Patients: BCS Policies


All BCS client, staff, board and organizational information is STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. Please do not ever discuss information about BCS’ clients, staff, board of directors or the organization itself with anyone outside of BCS, except for information that is readily available on our website.


Please be sure to follow up with your clients on a monthly basis to ensure that they are still in treatment before recommending payment for the next month/cycle. BCS does support individuals who are recovering from breast cancer treatment immediately after they finish treatment, up to a month after their last treatment visit.


Please do not meet with the client at any time at the client’s home. Again, this is mainly for your own protection. Only volunteers with more than 5 years of BCS volunteer experience may visit a client’s home, only in extraordinary situations and only IN PAIRS. Never “drop in” on a client without making prior arrangements.


If you are having difficulty interacting with a client, please contact BCS’ executive director, Anna Bell. If anything makes you feel uneasy about a given client, please tell BCS staff immediately.


Do not make contact with a client’s employer for any reason.


If you need translation assistance to talk to a client, please tell BCS staff immediately. We currently have volunteers who speak Spanish and Vietnamese, and there are translation services available in our community.


Do not discuss clients’ situations with other clients. It is inappropriate to discuss “Mary’s” case with “Jane”.


Please do not contact a client’s medical provider. BCS staff will collect the information from each client’s oncology team. The only time we need to do this is to obtain a physician report or to verify the client is still in treatment.


Please do not contact your clients more than necessary. Twice a month is typically enough; once to gather information for the Client Review Meeting, and perhaps one more call to check in and see how she is doing. If a client contacts you more often than you are comfortable with, please let BCS staff know.


Please do not promise anything to a client before her case is voted on by the ARP.


BCS is a grant and donation-funded organization, and we can only commit to providing short term assistance to eligible breast cancer patients.


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