Different Approaches to Cancer Treatment

Analyzing the different categories of Belong users and how gender affects the way individuals battle different cancers.

Belong, the ‘treatment journey optimization company’, offers a leading cancer resource and community app that provides its users with innovative and personalized solutions to manage their fight against cancer. Belong assists, directs, and empowers users with tailored and customized  treatment information based on their condition, while safeguarding their anonymity.

The Cancer app provides users with multiple core resources including:

  • Management and tracking of appointments, treatments, goal, and other information
  • Connections to a community of medical professionals who can provide expert knowledge for free
  • A digital binder to manage important medical records
  • A personal clinical trial search to find new treatments or experimental drugs relevant for the user

The company recently conducted an analysis of its user community and identified three categories of usage on the platform. In addition to the categories of users, Belong identified interesting patterns amongst its user base. Specifically, Belong discovered that men and women react differently to different cancers, taking either more or less of an active role in managing their treatment.

Below are the key takeaways from the analysis of the platform.

User Categories:

  • Passive Users â€“ Users that tend to acquire very little data along their journey. While they may not demonstrate high adherence to their physician’s treatment instructions, Passive Users rarely doubt or question the information and treatment options they are given by their physicians.
  • Knowledge Driven Users â€“ Users that seek to learn more about their diagnosis and understand the different treatment options available to them. These users collect data about their condition and treatment on a regular basis, and at some Critical Decision Points (CDP) – they use this information a to make more educated decisions regarding their treatment.
  • Proactive Patients â€“ Users that often doubt what they are being told. These patients are constantly collecting additional data and investigating alternatives, getting second opinions, and researching experimental treatment during their care. Accordingly, these users tend to be more aware of the newest treatments relevant for them and are most likely to make a change in their treatment, lifestyle or nutrition to improve their quality of life and results.

Key Takeaways Regarding User Behavior:

BREAST CANCER

Belong found that men with breast cancer are almost twice as active in their treatment when compared to women.

Breast cancer doesn’t affect women exclusively. An interesting piece of information discovered from the Belong data is that men affected by the disease are considerably more proactive in the app than women. The preconceived notion is that it is only a women’s disease. Men talk less about cancer, and amongst those who do, they tend not to share the type of disease they have. What is encouraging is that they are active and they are not alone.

LUNG CANCER

Belong also observed that women and men with lung cancer are equally involved in their treatment plans.

Recent breakthroughs in lung cancer reaserch available treatment have encouraged both women and men to take up an active role in decisions concerning their treatment options.

The Belong platform provides patients with these possibilities, through communications with doctors and experts in the field and through conversations with other patients in similar conditions.

COLON CANCER

Here, Belong also discovered a difference between genders, noting a 38% gap between men and women that manage treatment relating to colon cancer. Specifically, women are more proactive than their male counterparts.

Colon Cancer, one of the most common cancers in the modern world affects men and women evenly.  From the data, Belong has found out that women tend to be more interested in alternative treatment options, the type of available drugs, side effects and pain relief than men do.

Visit our Wellness page to see how you can improve your health and vitality through nutrition education and you will also be able to find some lights excercises with our Yoga for Cancer Patients videos.

If you want to get more information and tips or would like to share your suggestions and advice, download the Belong Cancer App. Join our social and professional communities today.

This content is provided for your general education and information only. It does not necessarily reflect Belong’s views and opinions. Belong does not endorse or support any specific product, service, or treatment.

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