Lecture Series

Gilda’s Club Seattle is an educational resource for people touched by cancer. A cancer diagnosis can be overwhelming and presents numerous issues previously not considered. Often, the need to make medical, legal or financial decisions arises suddenly and there is no one, single resource to turn to for answers. Hospitals and other healthcare providers do not have the time, staff or resources to offer these programs to people touched by cancer.

Since 2003 Gilda’s Club Seattle has offered educational lectures, at no cost, in the Clubhouse, almost every Thursday evening. The topics are always cancer-related and have included lectures on specific cancer diagnoses, psychosocial and emotional issues, family-related concerns, integrative medicine, prevention, death and dying, and some of the practical aspects having to do with cancer such as finances, wills, and resources. We strive to provide information that empowers people to make informed decisions that directly affect the quality of their lives.

It is more difficult to find this kind of resource outside of the Seattle area. In 2006 we began to take Lecture Series programs to outlying areas, including Whatcom and Kitsap Counties. These programs were funded by area foundations and hospitals. We work together with a sponsoring agency or organization to tailor a series to meet the specific needs of a particular geographic area. Gilda’s Club Seattle suggests speakers and provides topics based on our past five years of experience providing lectures in Seattle in the Clubhouse. The out-of-the-Clubhouse series that we have presented so far have included the topics of Cancer Resources, Cancer in the Family, What Causes Cancer, Cancer Survivorship, Tumor Board, Health Disparities, Death/Dying/Hospice, and Integrative Medicine.

If you are interested in working with Gilda’s Club Seattle to present a lecture series in your geographic area, anywhere in Washington State, please contact Anna Gottlieb or Sally Benson.