MLC Life Insurance is offering customers grappling with the emotional toll of a cancer diagnosis with access to a digital support tool to help them better manage their illness and treatment.

As Australia marks the Cancer Council’s Daffodil Day, which helps raise funds for cancer research, MLC Life Insurance is helping to return customers on claim for cancer back to work through its partnership with CancerAid.

Customers with a cancer diagnosis are offered free access to the CancerAid Coach Program, a digitally enabled course that guides customers through cancer treatment. The award-winning program brings together the individualised attention of professional health coaches, a smartphone app along with a researched curriculum and manageable goals.

The program is offered in conjunction with access to the CancerAid App, which organises medical records and streamlines information on appointments, treatments, and specialists. It gives patients and caregivers medically reliable information about their illness and treatment plan, a symptom monitoring tool and access to a supportive community of patients and carers.

Since June this year, 25 per cent of customers with cancer were successfully referred to the program, with the expectation that 73% will return to work as a result

With nearly 150,000 Australians diagnosed with cancer every year, most people have been touched by someone in their life being diagnosed with cancer. During a time of immense anxiety and uncertainty, coupled with many appointments, visits to specialists and the beginning of treatment, a person’s ability to manage their response can be overwhelming.

Andrew Beevors, Chief Claims Officer, MLC Life Insurance, said:

“A cancer diagnosis can create an enormous emotional toll. We know from first-hand experience that many of our customers need help to manage all their appointments, treatments, and specialists. Using this app we are providing customers with extra support when they need it most, regardless of whether they make a claim.”

CancerAid is the most downloaded and utilised cancer app in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States and has been used by more than 40,000 people in 53 countries. CancerAid was co-founded by an Oncology Specialist, Dr Raghav Murali-Ganesh who observed first-hand that patients who had the best information systems and support networks had better clinical outcomes.

Founder of CancerAid Dr Raghav Murali-Ganesh said:

“Life insurers see the impact of cancer daily and play a crucial role in supporting customers in their time of need. By providing a tool like the CancerAid coach program, they can give them invaluable help in managing their treatment by professional coaches and give them every chance of improving their health outcomes,” he said.