“The Quiet Power of Empathy in Cancer Care”

By Alex Keeling

Welcome to the third recording in the #777 Series, created in collaboration with Yes to Life and the NoWorriesApp. In this instalment, we turn our attention to a quality that sits at the heart of meaningful cancer support yet is so often challenged by the realities of modern healthcare: empathy.

Empathy is more than a kind gesture—it’s a bridge between fear and understanding, between uncertainty and reassurance. For anyone navigating a cancer diagnosis, moments of genuine compassion can offer clarity, comfort, and connection at times when they’re needed most. And for the professionals and supporters who stand alongside them, empathy can be a grounding force that brings humanity back into care, even in high-pressure environments.

To Miquel – the CEO at Yes to Life – empathy is not just about understanding the treatment journey of a cancer patient but understanding their feelings and emotions. It’s so important to articulate that there is an understanding of what is being experienced and how it is being experienced.

Dr Mandolen Mull agreed with this perspective and added that empathy is about walking alongside someone. Experiences are shared shoulder to shoulder.

Cancer patients can experience a lonely journey unless there is demonstrable empathy from carers and medical practitioners. Cancer delivers a physical blow to the body and an equally high impact blow to the emotions of a patient. If a patient is be assisted, then there has to be a holistic approach by all of the stakeholders.

Sometimes, even the most dedicated medical practitioners struggle to convey the empathy they genuinely feel. For instance, a doctor caring for a very large number of patients explained that they simply didn’t have the capacity to provide more detailed explanations during appointments. While the intention may have been to be transparent about the demands they face, the message understandably left the patient feeling dismissed and unsure of how to interpret the interaction. Healthcare providers face enormous pressure, yet empathy remains a vital part of patient care and can deeply influence how supported and understood someone feels.

Why it is important? Mandolen explained that empathy is vital to patients with critical health conditions. Empathy counters isolation and loneliness and it engenders a sense of togetherness and community. The patient will continue to be present and know that family and community are with them and have their back. Being seriously ill is not about being endlessly melancholic as there is still much joy to be experienced and that is much easier in an empathetic environment.

Miquel said that cancer treatment is effectively a team game. The patient not only needs to feel assisted by carers, health practitioners and the surrounding family but feel empowered to make decisions and choose pathways along which they will experience the sincere understanding of others. As a team the burden is shared.

Caroline – CEO at NoWorriesApp.com and a former cancer patient – echoed the importance of empathy and the boost it gave when she received an empathetic experience. She asked how Miquel was delivering empathy to stakeholders at Yes to Life.

Miquel detailed that Yes to Life don’t just show empathy, but they sustain that message about caring and sharing the journey. Yes to Life is a community that everyone can join to be part of something bigger with a shared mission. This is especially important at Christmas which can be such a tough time for so many people. Being Christmas, everyone wants the joy of having a stocking full of gifts. And this is the theme of a major Yes to Life campaign.

Miquel talked enthusiastically about the 2025 Christmas Stockings of Hope seasonal campaign. A stocking of gifts to help cancer patients. The Christmas Stock of Hope is a beautifully curated set of recipes, helpful videos, readings from books and shared experiences. There is also a gift in the stocking that enables everyone touched by cancer – patients, family, and cares alike – to help themselves achieve those little victories that bring a smile of relief, joy, or celebration. This is the NoWorriesApp from NoWorriesApp.com. The free to download app is a self-help tool that enables the user to recognise, manage and ease a worry or concern. It can also reassure a user that some of their coping strategies are really working well for them.

The NoWorriesApp is free to download and free to use. There is no charge. The NoWorriesApp is available from the AppStore or Google. In Setting add the community code ”Yes to Life” and off you go. Type or speak any worries and concerns you have and work through the simple step by step self help guide. This is all completely secure and completely private. You will be able to enjoy engaging with the NoWorriesApp safe and comfortable in the knowledge that no one else can look or read your personal thoughts. Track your happiness and see what is working well for you. See also where you have opportunities to rationalise and mitigate some of your everyday worries.

Even when times are difficult it is possible to let go of worries and allow yourself to feel empowered and be present so that the precious time that is Christmas can be enjoyed. And it allows you to put something back into the wider community too!

Caroline explained that the NoWorriesApp collects all inputs anonymously so that the sentiment of the Yes to Life community can be measured. This information can be used to help design new services and interventions that are specific to the community.

So, Miquel, Mandolen, and Caroline’s message as part of making this season the best that it can be, is to dive into the Yes to Life Stocking of Hope and help yourself to enjoy the moment.

Empathy and some joy awaits!

Find out more about the Stockings of Hope campaign and download the app here

And you can see the latest episode here