Event topic:
In this webinar you will meet cancer care coordinators from two Victorian hospitals. Cancer care coordinators are great navigators of the health care system and can help point you in the right direction. In this webinar they answered YOUR submitted questions, and also shared tips and responses to some of the most frequently asked questions they hear from patients and their families. This is our 4th round of the popular Q&A session with Brain Cancer Care Coordinators.
Questions & information covered in this Q&A webinar included:
- The complexity of navigating a health system. How do you do that? How do you know you’re having the right help and support? What does a cancer care coordinator do to help? Start: 00:04:27
- Why is it important that somebody has a care coordinator or someone in a role like that overseeing their care in that way? Start: 00:07:49
- There are so many terms – a nurse consultant, a nurse navigator or a care coordinator – do these people do the same role? Is the main thing to ensure you have a point of contact you can call if you have a question/concern? Start: 00:10:07
- Does it put people at a disadvantage if care coordination is structured differently at different hospitals or in different states? What about if you are in the private system? Start: 00:15:02
- What is your relationship like with your respective medical teams? Is part of your role to advocate on behalf of patients to other members of the team? This discussion also included the role of the Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) Meeting. Start: 00:16:33
- What percentage of people get to have access to care coordinators and nurse consultants or navigators? or is it mandatory? Start: 00:21:06
- How can I be sure my treatment team is communicating my concerns effectively and information is passed on correctly, including to my GP when I leave the hospital? Start: 00:26:05
- What is the best way to manage your oncology and ensure the support of nurse practitioners through the public system if your surgery was done privately? Start: 00:29:26
- Is there ‘best practice’ or a standard for brain cancer care coordinators? How do new brain cancer care coordinators get training and experience? Start: 00:33:44
- Does your role focus solely on people who have primary brain cancers, or do you also look after people with other brain tumours, or who may have a secondary brain cancer from a different primary cancer such as melanoma, breast cancer, lung cancer? Start: 00:41:29
- Can a primary brain cancer progress from low grade to a higher grade? Start: 00:43:34
- How do you help patients and their families navigate conflicting information they might find online about brain tumours? Start: 00:45:19
- I’m interested to learn about food that may have impact on brain cancer, if anyone has more information that would be good. In the discussion Mei recommended a past BT Online webinar that was on “Exercise, Nutrition, & Wellbeing“. The discussion also mentioned the importance of telling your treating team if you are taking any vitamins or supplements, as some may interact with your chemotherapy medicines. Start: 00:50:30
Key messages:
Ask your health care team who your point of contact is before you leave the hospital so you know who to call if you have questions or concerns. It may be you have a cancer care coordinator, a nurse consultant or a nurse navigator. It may be your main contact is the hospital switch board or a Reception staff member. Find out who your person is. If you don’t know how, or don’t have a contact person, you can also contact Cancer Council’s support service. They have specialist cancer nurses who may be able to answer your questions or help connect you with a contact person at your hospital. You can call them on the 13 11 20 helpline.
Video:
The webinar was recorded live on 16th March 2026. The recording is now available to watch. If you have feedback about the video or have topics to suggest for a future webinar, please complete this short webinar video feedback survey.