Young adults have always been a unique segment of the cancer community. The obstacles they endure during and after cancer treatment are unique and specific to their age and life stage, and are still sorely under researched and underrepresented. Given our focus on the financial aftermath of young adult cancer, our team recently teamed up with Lauren V. Ghazal PhD, FNP-BC at the University of Michigan and Sheila J. Santacroce PHD, RN, CPNP at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to examine the emergence of crowdfunding as a strategy for covering medical and other daily living expenses. Namely, we investigated the ways in which crowdfunding often causes and exacerbates stigma and magnifies feelings of shame, and questioned why it has become increasingly necessary, especially for cancer survivors.
