Q&A: Sarah Greene on why we need to put patients first

Sarah Greene knows first-hand why health research that prioritizes patients is key to better health outcomes.

She has worked in the healthcare sector for more than 30 years, but surviving cancer sparked a new journey as a cancer research advocate.

Q: How did your health journey lead you to become a patient advocate in research?

A: I remember deciding to work in healthcare at 12, after my grandmother died of cancer. She helped raise me, and her death was a pretty big gut punch. I began as the ideal optimist, and I built a career working to improve healthcare.

Then, in 2022, I was diagnosed with metastatic endometrial cancer. It kind of came out of nowhere. With the symptoms I was dealing with, I never expected the diagnosis to be cancer.

But I got exceptional care. I was treated successfully and I’m in remission. I feel like I represent this contrast of how we can fail patients at a population level, but there are individual patients who’ve had exemplary experiences. Everybody deserves the type of care I got.

I’m hoping I can use my quilt of experiences to both humanize what we need to do in healthcare and provide some tactical examples of ways we can do better. Everybody has a role to play in making health and healthcare better.

Q: Why is including patients as partners in the research process important?

A: Early in my career in health research, I was scared of opening this Pandora’s Box – of asking patients what they thought. The scary part was not being able to satisfactorily address their needs.

But the more I was able to sit with patients and hear their concerns, the more clear and impactful the research became.

Yes, we should ask cancer patients what kind of treatment side effects are bothering them. Yes, we should bring patients to the table to help us design clinical trials that are less burdensome and more representative.

We want patients engaged so that we can ask questions that matter to them. And do the research in a way that’s going to benefit all future patients.

Q: What do you hope people take away from your upcoming talk at the Putting Patients First conference?

A: I want people to feel a combination of inspiration and a desire to do something. I want people to know what’s possible.

Sarah is a keynote speaker at the upcoming Putting Patients First conference on March 3, hosted by the BC SUPPORT Unit. Based out of Seattle, Sarah is a cancer research advocate and freelance consultant.