As a youth cancer patient Shona Edwards' diagnosis threw her into the worlds of both cancer advocacy and disability advocacy simultaneously. From buying her first walking stick, to applying to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, to founding disabled student clubs at university, Shona's experience has been supported and facilitated by peer support and the knowledge, experience and spirit of the disability community. Disability is inseparable from Shona's experience of cancer.
Disability is diverse and complex. It is an identity, with a thriving community, but is also an administrative category which dictates the allocation of funding and resources, and defines an individual's work life, education, housing, and involvement with other government services including benefits and pensions.
Shona will discuss recent findings from Cancer Council Australia's disability and cancer care issue-based forum. The forum has identified many of the critical issues at the intersection of disability and cancer care in Australia. Disability is more than a pre-existing condition influencing cancer care. Shona emphasises that we must ensure not only that people with disabilities have equal access to cancer care, but that people with cancer have equal access to disability care. Through her personal experiences and an examination of systemic challenges, Shona calls for actionable change to better support both cancer and disability care pathways. We can do both.