The Importance of Language and Representation in Cancer Care

Committed to changing the patient experience.

For Andrea, to transform a company into a genuine patient-centric organization means understanding the patient’s experience of his or her condition – what are the individual patient values, habits, attitudes, beliefs, needs, and what is most likely to result in a positive healthcare outcome.

Originally from Colombia, she brings over twenty years of leadership experience in the Consumer Care and Pharmaceutical industry, for the LatAm market.

Andrea focuses on Health Coaching offering tailored coaching based solutions to patients, caregivers, and pharmaceutical companies in LatAm and the USA.

She has successfully launched innovative online coaching programs supporting patients and caregivers with cancer. She facilitates live webinars on stress reduction, emotional intelligence, and behavior change. As a commitment to diversity and inclusion, she facilitates an 8- week online program in Spanish on how to deal with the emotional rollercoaster of cancer to Latino patients and caregivers in the USA. She is an advisor of the University of Miami Patient and Family Advisory Council at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami. She helps the organization to better understand the needs and preferences of the Latino and Hispanic cancer patients and caregivers.

She enjoys practicing yoga. When she isn’t working, you can find her on the beach in the headstand pose!

Maria Franklin was diagnosed with cervical cancer stage 2B when she was 27 years old. She underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments and experienced numerous short-term and long-term side effects. At the time of her diagnosis she didn’t know anything about cervical cancer or HPV. As she began to understand her cancer and how to prevent it, she began speaking to others about it. She joined the Cervivor community in 2009 after connecting with Tamika Felder via email and has been an avid advocate since then. Maria is passionate about education and prevention of cervical cancer within her Latinx community and her advocacy has led her to present in various forums in the US, Puerto Rico and Colombia. Maria received Cervivor Champion Award in 2019 for her advocacy efforts within the Latinx community.

She is a healthcare leader, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Certified Case Manager. She lives in North Carolina with her husband Chris. In her free time she enjoys running, cycling, hiking and exploring the outdoors.

Javier has been with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) for almost 10 years building strong relationships with community organizations and the Hispanic health care providers with the focus of establishing a strong presence to promote LLS’s initiatives focused on minorities and disparities among blood cancer patients. His main objective has been working with physicians and healthcare professionals on educating the Latino community through Blood Cancer Programs, National Online Educational Programs including Facebook Live Series, and Cancer 101 Workshops for community health workers.

In part because he is bicultural and bilingual and because he is devoted to his community, Javier has been very successful in reaching thousands of blood cancer patients nationwide through live and virtual educational programs and partnerships with cancer centers, community clinics, leaders and community organizations.

I am a 5-year young-onset, Stage III colorectal cancer survivor. I have lived in Charleston, SC for over 30 years and am proud to call it home. As the Bilingual Patient & Family Support Navigator and Buddy Program Manager at the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, I am passionate about improving survivorship outcomes through our programs, advocacy opportunities and engagement. My perspective as a young-onset survivor along with my professional capacities, allows me to identify the unmet needs of our patients and caregivers and create solutions to improve their quality of life.