Congratulations to our 2024 Lung Cancer Support Group Facilitator award recipient, Christine Conti, from Huntington Health in Pasadena, California. This award, given annually since 2009, recognizes the uncommon dedication of support group facilitators.
Christine Conti, RN, ONN-CG, is a thoracic nurse navigator who has been Huntington Health’s lung cancer support group facilitator for 12 years. During the pandemic, Christine’s group grew when it went virtual, and in response to a growing demand for support during those uncertain times, Christine also increased the frequency of meetings. When changes were recently made within her network, Christine strongly advocated to keep the group going. She has also hosted GO2 Shine a Light events, Lung Cancer Living Room watch parties, and is involved in efforts to increase screening rates in her community.
Creating a place for support
Christine started her support group 12 years ago because she realized that people living with lung cancer needed their own place for support. People with lung cancer often have a unique set of needs due to the stigma around lung cancer and smoking, as well as the statistics for survival. But her facility only offered groups for other cancers or gender-specific groups.
She said, “I felt strongly that a diagnosis of lung cancer was more complex and elicited many different feelings that would not be addressed in other groups. I wanted to create an environment where lung cancer patients could feel comfortable and get the support they very much needed.”
Christine leads her meetings with unwavering compassion and kindness. She is a beacon of hope to those in her group, within the Huntington Health System, and beyond. She said that she wants people to know that “lung cancer support groups are not ‘doom and gloom.’ They are positive, inclusive, informative, and offer hope.”
Christine’s remarkable impact
One group member said, “…I truly don’t know what state I might have been in without her support, both within the group setting and her availability while I was recovering from surgery. Mental health is such an important element in a cancer patient’s care, and having group support from others living the cancer journey is so valuable, especially when led by a well-informed, compassionate, caring, and kind-hearted nurse, such as Christine.”
Another shared, “Christine has been nothing but a blessing for me as a lung cancer survivor at this moment. [She] has always been there for me with any questions, referrals, or anything I need. I can’t think of anyone else more deserving of this award.”
We are incredibly grateful to all lung cancer support group facilitators for continuing to offer resources and support to those touched by lung cancer on a local level, and especially to Christine whose extraordinary work we recognized this year. As one of Christine’s patients said, “You could search high and low and NEVER find a nurse, caregiver, facilitator, etc. …as effective and personable as Christine.”
Christine accepted the Lung Cancer Support Group Facilitator award at GO2’s annual Lung Cancer Voices Summit on Monday, March 4, from GO2’s Senior Director of Support Programs, Maureen Rigney, and Senior Manager of Support Programs and Peer Support, Miranda Goff.
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