HealthTree 2.0 Pillar One: Personalized, Lifetime Support and Education

In lieu of the HealthTree 2.0 Launch Event announced yesterday morning, we wanted to share with you some of the exciting improvements that you will begin to see within our HealthTree Foundation for Multiple Myeloma. 

Our Foundation has grown significantly within the last three years, with many developed programs improving and even more successful programs being developed. 

The HealthTree 2.0 Model will consist of 3 core pillars into which all of our programs can be organized. 

We believe that by encouraging our community to interact with our programs through these three pillars, patients and caregivers alike will remain empowered, educated individuals who make important connections with their myeloma community and participate in key research that leads to a myeloma cure. 

Today, we will highlight the first pillar of the HealthTree 2.0 Model: Personalized, Lifetime Support and Education. 

The Purpose of Personalized, Lifetime Support and Education within the HealthTree Model

Several of our programs at HealthTree are geared towards personalized, lifetime support and education. We believe that by empowering myeloma patients and their loved ones to learn all that they can about the disease, find specialists who stay on top of the latest and greatest, and become active partners in their care will both live longer and live a higher quality of life. 

In fact, we have seen that through the many patients and caregivers that we have helped along the way. 

When these empowered members of our myeloma community feel supported and have a trusted team to which they can ask their questions, there’s no limit to how involved and active they can be in their own care.

Myeloma patient Jean Becker shares, 

“My first observation when engaging with HealthTree, was that it is patient-centered/focused,so I could access and understand information. 

The breadth and depth of resources as well as timeliness (current), is so helpful and supportive. No matter what my questions are, from testing to treatments, to side effects, I can always find answers, information, or a direction.

And if they aren't there, I can ask, and get answers. 

The community is so supportive. The range of experts and access to them, and their knowledge through the courses, or regular webinars, chapters, etc. has been crucial to my myeloma journey, as I feel prepared to advocate for myself and others with good information and data.” 

HealthTree Programs within Pillar One: Personalized Lifetime Support and Education 

HealthTree Podcast for Multiple Myeloma
Our podcast program, in which Jenny Ahlstrom interviews myeloma specialists about their clinical trials and other hot topics in myeloma, was our very first program within our foundation. At the time, the foundation was known as the Myeloma Crowd. 

Jenny, as a patient herself, was having a hard time finding a clinical trial that she qualified for in her area. She decided to take things into her own hands and start interviewing doctors to make it easier for her and others like her to understand myeloma clinical trials and know how to sign up for one. 

New podcast episodes continue to be released, with many patients claiming this as their favorite educational program. 

HealthTree Roundtables for Multiple Myeloma
Another early program in the history of the Myeloma Crowd, the HealthTree Round Tables program was set up to allow patients, caregivers, and physicians a face-to-face opportunity for myeloma education. 

Hosted in large cities throughout the United States, these Round Tables serve as a way for patients to hear live presentations about important myeloma topics and then give them adequate time to ask their questions to the panel of specialists that have been invited. It’s also an excellent opportunity to get to know others in your area who have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma. 

HealthTree News for Myeloma
Part of providing personalized lifetime education includes publishing up-to-date, easy-to-understand information about the latest and greatest in myeloma. On our news site, you can read articles about newly approved myeloma medications, results of clinical trials, myeloma patient stories, and much more. 

“The HealthTree Foundation programs have helped keep me up to date on the ever-changing landscape of myeloma treatments,” says myeloma patient Angela Perez, “I can always count on Healthtree to have the latest news on the newest treatments and clinical trials available.”

HealthTree Webinars for Myeloma
The webinar program, previously known as the HealthTree Myeloma Community program, was launched in January 2021. I had the privilege of spearheading this program and watching it grow has been a privilege. The program began in the midst of a global pandemic when many immunocompromised myeloma patients and their families had to remain at home. 

Different groups were created and called Chapters, in which people could search for webinars based on their interests, the current status of their disease, or their demographic. 

While this is one of the programs that will change the most in upcoming months (in terms of number of groups available and the number of webinars), we are still dedicated to providing personalized education through these webinars and inviting top experts to educate the community on the most crucial myeloma topics. 

HealthTree University
Perhaps our most popular program, HealthTree University has drastically changed the way that the myeloma community can educate themselves about complex myeloma topics. 

The HealthTree University team interviews multiple myeloma specialists at conferences and roundtables to get their expert opinions on questions that matter to myeloma patients. The curriculum is developed by Cindy Chmielewski, a former teacher and myeloma patient (and also Twitter queen @myelomateacher). 

HealthTree Patient Experience Team
In addition to education, we strive to provide support to each of our community members.

Our Patient Experience team, led by Ana Sahagun, consists of a patient navigation and medical navigation team.

The Patient Navigation team can help you find myeloma resources, answer questions about our website, and troubleshoot any issues you may have. 

Our Medical Navigation team can help you answer questions that you have about myeloma (although they cannot give medical advice), aid you in understanding what your personalized lab values mean, and provide insight on general myeloma medication questions that you may have. 

You can contact them by emailing support@healthtree.org, or calling/texting +1 800 709 1113. 

HealthTree Myeloma Website

The rest of our website includes many resources such as: 

• Financial Resources 
• Understanding Your Lab Values
• Finding a Myeloma Specialist
• Multiple Myeloma Medications
• Newly Diagnosed Checklist and
• Myeloma 101 Pages

You can explore our website or contact our team if you are looking for specific resources.

Invitation to Participate in the Future of Myeloma

At HealthTree, we believe no one should have to face myeloma alone.

We encourage you to utilize the programs within Pillar One to educate yourself, your loved ones, and find personalized, lifetime support as you go along your myeloma journey. The next step is to become a part of the myeloma cure by participating in HealthTree Cure Hub's myeloma research.

You can learn about the new and improved HealthTree model, our goals, and how you can be involved in our upcoming HealthTree 2.0 event. Invite your friends & family and join us on October 23, 2023, to hear how you can get your best care and contribute to accelerating a myeloma cure.  

Register for HT 2.0 Event

Thanks to our event sponsors, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen and Genentech, for making this event possible.