Through the Barbed Wire: Breaking Barriers to Equitable Psychosocial Care
Wednesday, September 16, 12 to 1:30 p.m. ET, on Zoom
Cancer-related distress does not occur in a vacuum. Structural inequities, social determinants of health, stigma, discrimination, neurodiversity, geography, and systemic barriers all shape how individuals experience cancer diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, and supportive care. This webinar explores the psychosocial dimensions of inequity in cancer care through lived and living experiences, original research, and clinical perspectives from leaders working to improve care for structurally underserved populations.
Drawing on patient and caregiver narratives, insights from the Sexual and Gender Diversity in Cancer Care Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and findings from All.Can Canada on the current and future state of cancer diagnosis, presenters will examine how structurally underserved populations—including 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, racialized communities, and neurodivergent people—experience barriers that affect emotional well-being, access to support, health system navigation, and overall quality of life.
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how structural inequities contribute to distress, uncertainty, isolation, minority stress, mistrust, and challenges in accessing person-centred psychosocial support. Particular attention will be given to the experiences of sexual and gender diverse individuals navigating cancer care, alongside broader discussions of intersectionality and health equity. The session will highlight promising approaches that promote affirming care, cultural humility, trauma-informed practice, neurodiversity-affirming care, and equitable access to psychosocial oncology services.
By bringing together research evidence, clinical innovation, and lived experience, this webinar will encourage reflection and action toward more inclusive, responsive, and equitable psychosocial cancer care.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will:
- Recognize how structural inequities, discrimination, and social determinants of health influence psychosocial outcomes across the cancer continuum.
- Understand the emotional, practical, cultural, and systemic impacts of cancer-related inequities on structurally underserved populations, including sexual and gender diverse communities, racialized communities, and neurodivergent communities.
- Explore affirming, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and neurodiversity-affirming approaches to psychosocial oncology practice.
- Identify opportunities within their own roles and organizations to advance equity, accessibility, and person-centred support for individuals affected by cancer, including prior to diagnosis
This session is designed for social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors, patient navigators, spiritual care providers, and other psychosocial oncology professionals seeking to strengthen equity-oriented approaches to cancer care.
Featuring:
Paula Holmes-Rodman, PhD – All.Can Canada
Paula Holmes-Rodman, PhD, is a narrative medicine scholar, anthropologist, writer, and patient advocate whose work focuses on equity, neurodiversity, and person-centred cancer care. Drawing on interdisciplinary scholarship, community-engaged research, and lived experience, she explores the stories that medicine cannot chart.
Paula has collaborated with Autism Canada, All.Can Canada, and CANO/ACIO to develop resources supporting neurodivergent people with cancer, including the Self-Advocacy Guide for Cancer Patients on the Autism Spectrum and the CANO Compass Care guide Supporting Neurodivergent Cancer Patients. The self-advocacy guide was recognized with a King Charles III Coronation Medal for its contribution to patient advocacy and equitable cancer care. Her writing bridges narrative, advocacy, and the health humanities.
Margo Kennedy, MSW – Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Margo Kennedy (she/her) is an oncology Social Worker at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and Clinical Lead for the Sexual & Gender Diversity in Cancer Care (SGDc) Program. Her work is rooted in a passion for health equity and a deep commitment to creating inclusive, affirming care for 2SLGBTQ+ people navigating cancer.
Margo works alongside SGDc patients to make sense of cancer through a queer, intersectional lens. Her counselling approach centres queer identities and experiences, holding space for conversations about belonging, chosen family, isolation, vulnerability, and what it means to be seen within healthcare systems that often exclude or erase our communities. Her practice is grounded in strengths, resilience, queer joy, and the transformative power of community and Pride.
When she’s not “social working,” you can find Margo tending to her plants, usually with a cup of coffee close by. She feels privileged to be part of work that supports and celebrates her community.
Leah Marie Stephenson, MA – All.Can Canada
Motivated by her experiences as a caregiver for her late mother, Leah has cultivated her consulting expertise to improve how we address complex systems change. For over twenty years, Leah has been working to improve Canadian healthcare systems to better address the needs of people using them, including and especially structurally underserved and Indigenous communities. She is the Strategic Lead of All.Can Canada, a patient-led, multi-stakeholder network focussed on improving early, equitable cancer diagnoses in Canada.
On top of All.Can Canada’s efforts, she has been the backbone support and pen behind numerous transformational common agendas, including the Declaration of Personal Health Data Rights in Canada endorsed by over 30 Canadian patient and caregiver groups and Peel’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter endorsed by over 100 institutions, both of which continue to be brought to life through advocacy, education, and knowledge mobilisation.
Michelle Audoin, MA – All.Can Canada
Michelle Audoin is a creator, community collaborator, and changemaker. Guided by her experiences of navigating double cancer diagnoses of metastatic breast cancer and thyroid cancer and not seeing her needs as a young Black woman represented, Michelle applies her education background to advocate for more equitable and inclusive resources and supports for undersupported communities. In 2020, she created Uncovered: A Breast Recognition Project, a first-of-its kind breast cancer resource. Michelle collaborates with many organizations, including All.Can Canada to help break down barriers to cancer care and drive systemic change.
Christian Schulz-Quach – University Health Network
Fees:
- FREE to CAPO Members
- FREE to Non-Member Patients/Caregivers
- $15 to Non-Members
We hope you’ll join us for this powerful and timely conversation.
Webinar access details will be provided in the registration confirmation email. Pending quality of the recording, this webcast will be available within 30 days of the live webinar.
If you are not a current member of CAPO, find out more about membership by going to https://capo.ca/apply
