The Problem: People do not always get the support they need when they or their friends and family have cancer.
The Solution: Create cafes close to treatment and diagnosis centres where information and support is available and where all profits are donated to the cause.
This idea was inspired by watching a documentary this summer about the work of the Ruth Strauss foundation, which highlighted that many people do not get the support they need, and do not even know where to look for it, when dealing with terminal cancer. It also reminded me of a piece in Intelligent Life from years ago about a woman going through chemotherapy and finding one of the few things she enjoyed eating was grapefruit, because it was so sour it managed to spark her taste buds, which had been severely dulled by the chemo.
The idea is therefore to setup cafes close to cancer treatment and diagnosis centres, which are designed especially to provide support to people with cancer and their friends and families.
The cafes would therefore have lots of information about the support available, including leaflets and information about the disease itself, links of where to find out more, and recommended books on shelves that people could peruse, borrow or buy.
On each table would be a simple sign, which could be turned to red, yellow or green; red for those who wanted to be alone, yellow for those happy to have company or not, and green for those keen to speak to others. The idea being to enable those who wanted quiet to get it, but also to help others to feel comfortable approaching each other to talk.
The people running the café would all be cancer survivors, so the job would help them get back on their feet and they would all have an insight into the challenges faced by those with cancer and their families and friends helping them through it, so they could have empathetic conversations with customers.
Food and drink on sale would be a combination of that sold in conventional cafes, for those simply coming in for a hot drink and a cake while a loved-one was in hospital, but also specific food and drink for those with cancer, to provide them with the vital vitamins they need as well as food and drinks such as grapefruits with strong tastes capable of overcoming the effects of chemo.
Not only would the café provide a space for those with cancer and their friends and families to visit, find information and find people to talk to, all profits would be donated to cancer charities to provide vital funds to help find a cure and provide support to those diagnosed.
The cafés would provide a social space for those with cancer, their friends and families, and the wider public, a place for those without family close by to find friends and share feelings and experiences with others to help prevent feelings of loneliness or isolation.
I suggest these places be called Friend Cafés, for that is what they are designed to be.
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