Why Bag It For Healthcare Providers?
Give your cancer patients the most respected and comprehensive resources for patient education. The Bag It Bag includes:
- Printed publications with content from respected cancer sources including NCI, ASCO, NCCN®, NCCS, AICR, and Triage Cancer.
- Customizable tools designed to help your patients be engaged and better navigate their cancer.
We believe that patient education, along with support for their caregivers and advocates, leads to better outcomes. Put these valuable resources into your patients’ hands without putting a strain on your practice’s own resources. Empower your patients—Order Bag It Bags today.
Questions? Reach out to our Joyce Palasek at joyce@bagitcancer.org or 520.348.3310. Consult our FAQs for commonly asked questions.
Choose From
Two Bag It Bags
Cancer Resource Center
Customize the Bag
For Your Practice
Ordering Bags
For Your Practice
Quick Start Guide
A Training Guide
For Providers Video
FAQs
For Your Patients
According to our research, the Bag It Bag resources:
- Give patients a better understanding of their cancer and how to monitor/manage symptoms and side effects
- Educate and empower patients and caregivers to ask better questions and become active members of their own healthcare team.
- Allows patients to organize their personal information and records in one place for easy reference and transport to their various appointments
For Your Practice
Our healthcare provider partners have distributed the Bag It Bag to almost 100,000 patients since 2003.
Our surveys show that the Bag It Bag:
- Helps you meet QOPI, EOM, and CoC guidelines and requirements
- Improves patient adherence to treatment
- Simplifies the process of identifying and compiling the many resources of value to patients.. Saves your practice the time and the costs of selecting, acquiring, printing, compiling and storing updated resources for your patients
Choose From Two Bag It Bags
English Bag
Current, Comprehensive, and Individualized
Our goal is to empower patients through knowledge and tools to support them as they navigate their cancer experience. From initial diagnosis, throughout treatment, and during all phases of survivorship, the Bag It Bag guides patients on how to talk to their healthcare providers, ask the right questions and serve as the most important advocate on their care team
The Bag includes:
My Companion Guidebook, designed for you to personalize for each patient, there are dedicated sections for providers to add their pertinent cancer details, treatments and treatment, copies of their reports, scans and more before sitting down to review it with them. Patients and their families can then continue to store their documents and keep track of their medical information, appointments, and other details using the handy forms, tools and resource lists in the guidebook.
Paths to Survivorship, published by Bag It, this booklet combines relevant and requested content from the most respected cancer authorities in a single, easy-to-navigate publication. A wide variety of topics are covered in this go to guide that’s designed to be a handy reference every step of the way.
Taking Time, from the National Cancer Institute, discusses the many emotions that come with having cancer, how it can affect relationships, and how to communicate with others.
CancerResource: Living Well with Cancer and Beyond, from the American Institute for Cancer Research, provides advice on nutrition and cancer, guidance on eating well during and after treatment plus suggestions for managing common eating difficulties and side effects of treatment.
Caring for the Caregiver from the National Cancer Institute, provides ways caregivers, friends and family members can take care of themselves while caring for someone with cancer.
“I have seen the RELIEF AND GRATITUDE WASH OVER
PATIENTS’ FACES as we go over the Bag and how to utilize
it in their cancer journey.”
– Janice Turner, RN, BHCN, oncology navigator
Spanish Bicultural Bag
Researched and Tailored for
Latino and Hispanic Communities
The Spanish Bicultural Bag It Bag is carefully crafted to acknowledge how cultural nuances, values, beliefs and preferences can affect Latino and Hispanic individuals and their families facing cancer. By tailoring the content to address these cultural factors, the information resonates more deeply and is perceived as relevant and meaningful. This culturally-sensitive approach not only appreciates and respects the unique backgrounds of these communities but also enhances patient engagement, comprehension and adherence to treatment which can contribute to improved health outcomes and patient satisfaction.
During the development of the Spanish Bicultural Bag It Bag, we collaborated with healthcare providers and other stakeholders to deliver a patient-centered resource that meets the specific challenges of Latino and Hispanic patients. While incorporating all the topics covered in the English version, this edition features a different layout and presentation of the booklets.
Here are some themes that this unique Bag addresses:
- Family matters—Explores the role of family support networks in coping with cancer and the cultural significance of familial relationships and dynamics.
- Misconceptions about cancer outcomes—Provides accurate information about cancer causes and outcomes commonly misunderstood in the Latino and Hispanic communities, while also acknowledging the prevalence of cancer survivorship.
- Clinical trials and genetic testing—Addresses barriers and misconceptions regarding clinical trials and genetic testing, empowering patients to make informed decisions and advocate for their own participation when appropriate.
- Use of home/natural remedies—Explores traditional home remedies and natural healing practices commonly used in Latino and Hispanic cultures alongside evidence-based facts on their efficacy and role in cancer care.
- Palliative vs. hospice care—Clarifies common misunderstandings about palliative and hospice care. Explores how the holistic nature of palliative care can support and benefit the entire family from the day of diagnosis.
- Communication with healthcare providers—Focuses on effective communication strategies with healthcare providers to build good relationships and establish trust while ensuring patients' needs and preferences are expressed and understood. Advocates for the use of medical interpreters to overcome language barriers and ensure the best care possible.
Bag It Cancer Resource Center
Information is power--if it's the right information.
Bag It’s Resource Center—helpful for your patients and your practice—can serve as their first stop for reliable, respected, researched and updated knowledge available on a wide array of topics related to cancer. Hundreds of vetted organizations updated continuously, including separate pages for Resources in Spanish and by Cancer Types. Here are the topics we cover.
Customize the Bag It Bag
For Your Practice
Many providers opt to have Bag It customize a supply of Bags for their facility- or practice-specific preferences and needs. There are lots of options available. For example, Bag It can:
- Co-brand the Bag and the My Companion Guidebook with your organization’s logo and color scheme.
- Customize the guidebook contents. Bag It can incorporate additional patient education materials you select to meet QOPI, EOM, and CoC certification requirements. Each binder can also be pre-loaded with information routinely provided to patients such as practice contacts and policies, local resources, and other materials of your choice.
Interested in learning how to customize the materials for your practice? Contact Joyce Palasek at joyce@bagitcancer.org or 520.348.3310.
“When meeting patients for the first time, we often find the devastation of their new Cancer diagnosis to be overwhelming. They are not sure who to turn to, or where to begin. As certified Nurse Navigators our first meeting is a cornerstone for care needs and coordination. Having the Bag It (Bag) introduces our ability to support and stabilize the care they need. At the same time, we use it to educate them in essential ways. Lastly, it is a place to keep things from getting misplaced and help keep the cancer ‘in its place’ in their lives from the start.”
Mary Verplank, Certified Nurse Navigator (retired)
Ordering Bag It Bags for Your Practice
Thank you for providing the valuable Bag It bag to your oncology patients and their families.
There are 6 bags in a box. Order what you need, when you need it, to ensure you maintain an inventory. Or you can set up an automatic order (weekly, monthly, bimonthly or quarterly) order for delivery. Bags generally ship within 2-3 business days.
First-Time Orders
Thank you for your interest in the Bag It bag! Once you’ve placed your initial order, Bag It will generate a unique number for your practice, which can be used to simplify the process for future orders.
For questions about ordering for your practice, reach out to Joyce Palasek at joyce@bagitcancer.org or 520.348.3310.
Make the Most of Your Bag It Bag – A Training Guide for Providers
NOTE: Concepts in this video for the English bag are similar to those in the Spanish Bicultural Bag. A new video specific to the Spanish Bicultural Bag will be coming.
Quick Start Guide
Tips on How to Incorporate Bag It Into Your Practice
Use this Quick Start Guide [PDF] for tips on when and how to distribute the Bag It bag to your patients.
“For more than 10 years I have provided BAG IT to my patients and their families. BAG IT provides incredibly valuable and completely reliable information on such things as nutrition, exercise, communication, and coping strategies that offer hope when it’s needed the most-at their initial diagnosis. I honestly could not treat cancer without BAG IT. I am so glad they are on my team!”
Dr. Elizabeth McConnell, MD, FACS, FASCRS, McConnell Colorectal Center
FAQs for Healthcare Providers
How do I explain a Bag It Bag to patients?
Best practice is for a clinician (doctor, navigator, nurse, social worker, or other trained designee) to first personalize the Bag for the patient with their cancer information. Next, sit down with them for 3-4 minutes to review it. This key step helps the patient understand what you have given to them, and why. It also can go far to ensure that they will continue to use it going forward.
You can also watch our Training Guide for Providers video (LINK to video) and read our Quick Start Guide (LINK to guide) with tips to incorporate the bag into your practice. Before you begin distribution in your practice, Bag It gives a brief in-service to orient your team to the Bag and how to present it to patients.
Is the Bag It Bag for all cancer types?
Yes, the Bag It Bag is designed for anyone with any type or stage of cancer. Healthcare providers personalize the Bag with the patient’s individual cancer details, treatment plan and other pertinent documents before giving the patient the Bag.
Bag It Cancer also partners with leading cancer organizations to provide Cancer-specific Bags for a variety of cancer types Some of these are available in both English and Spanish.
How many bags come in a box?
There are six Bags in a box (English or Spanish).
In which languages is the Bag It bag available?
The Bag It Bag is available in English and in a Spanish/English Bicultural version with content tailored to make it more culturally appropriate for patients and caregivers in Latino and Hispanic communities. Some of Bag It Cancer-specific Bags are available in both English and Spanish.
Does every patient receive a Bag It bag?
Yes. As part of their routine initial visit or as early as possible after diagnosis, present the Bag It Bag to each patient—early stage, long-term treatment/advanced cancer, all cancer types, all treatment types (including oral chemo and hormonal), and those with recurrent cancer who did not receive a bag previously. Bag It Bags are not meant for selective distribution. The information and resources included assist patients at the critical time of diagnosis and throughout the stages of survivorship. If a patient is not ready to use the Bag right away, please give it to a family member/friend/caregiver who is accompanying them. They can share it with the patient when they are ready and/or use the Bag themselves to assist the patient and for their own support.
As a medical provider, can I add my own materials to the bag?
Yes! Sections 3 and 4 of My Companion Guidebook are designated places for you to personalize the Bag for your patient before you give it to them. Here, you add pertinent details of their cancer type and diagnosis, reports, cancer-specific guidance, treatment plan, your practice information and other additional resources.
In Section 5, Resources, you can also add details about support services and programs that are offered by your organization or in the local community, such as support groups, complementary/integrative therapies, assistance programs and more.
We do ask that you maintain the integrity of the bag as provided to you by Bag It, and that you do not remove any Bag It identification or otherwise represent it as your organization’s resource without our prior approval.
Many practices and institutions prefer to have us co-brand or customize their Bag content to help “check the box” for patient education requirements for certifications such as QOPI, EOM, and CoC. If you are interested in these opportunities, we’d be happy to talk with you. Contact Joyce Palasek at joyce@bagitcancer.org or 520.348.3310.
Tell Us What You Think
Patient Survey
Encourage your patients to complete our Patient survey at any time after they have used either the English or Spanish Bicultural Bag It Bag. There is one in the back of each guidebook, or they can complete it online, in either English or Spanish.
Healthcare Provider Survey
Your feedback is invaluable. We closely monitor the feedback from our healthcare provider partners and use that information to evaluate and update the resources we provide. Please take this very brief survey, and let us know about the Spanish Bicultural or the English Bag It Bag.