Abstract

The fundamental role of healthcare providers is not only the provision of state-of-the-art care but also the creation and maintenance of hopefulness. To this end, a new definition of hopefulness and the conditions needed for hope to thrive are required.

At the new Shaare Zedek Cancer Center in Israel, our team are endeavouring to infuse hopefulness into our cancer care and treatment services, facilitated by the design of the new cancer centre, and the immersive neuro-sensory system that we’ve developed (in the context of a prospective protocol approved by the Ethics Committee / Institutional Review Board), which has the potential to re-engineer the experience of patients, caregivers and staff members who populate a contemporary oncologic facility.

My lecture will begin by contextualising radiotherapy as an essential part of the modern cancer armamentarium. I will present the two pillars of radiation-related equipment (i.e. simulator and linear accelerator) and describe the capacity to implement these functions at our new centre. Since only two (of four) bunkers are currently being utilised, I will also discuss the potential instillation of machinery in the bunkers that are presently empty.

For the audience, there will be explicit as well as implicit evidence of the technical, if not sterile, nature of the delivery of standard radiation services. I will also encourage the audience to reflect on the patient experience and what, in their experience, might be lacking in the patient’s journey through the care process.