The goal of Journey Connections was to demonstrate the commitment Lilly Oncology has to supporting the efforts of the oncology community in providing care that reaches beyond treatment.

In collaboration with IDEO and PwC, we built a comprehensive database of businesses, service providers, and support organizations across the country. Because every person’s cancer journey is different, Journey Connections offers a variety of resource categories ranging from legal and financial assistance to emotional support, wish fulfillment, and more. The tool also allows oncology practices to add their own local resources and share them with the larger community, so the tool is continuously strengthened.

Once a user selects and edits the specific resources a patient needs, a personalized handout that provides details and contact information for each resource can be printed or emailed to the patient or caregiver.

One unique component of Journey Connections is that it was designed, right down to the language on the buttons, to remind users that in just minutes they can make a tremendous difference in someone’s life.

Journey Connections is promoted through Lilly Oncology representatives and LillyOncology.com. Since its launch, 519 oncology practices have registered to use the tool, 11,200 user-generated resources have been added to the database, and 1,693 personalized handouts have been made for patients and caregivers. Journey Connections has also earned an endorsement from the Academy of Oncology Nurse and Patient Navigators (AONN). Users have described it as the tool they’ve been searching for to help make each patient’s cancer journey at least a little easier.

“I can give them what they need and they take it home with them in written form, and emotionally that gives them such a feeling of being supported, that it helps them from the very beginning of that diagnosis.”

—JOYCE BYNUM, RN, Cancer Educator

and Nurse Navigator, IU Health