Does the Oncology Survivorship and Supportive Care World Need to Practice Non-Striving to Make Progress Towards Meaningful Change?

Non-striving is one of the nine fundamental attitudes of mindfulness as described by Jon Kabat-Zinn. In the context of mindfulness, non-striving means letting go of the need to achieve specific outcomes or goals. Instead of trying to get somewhere or accomplish something, the focus is on simply being present and accepting things as they are. This attitude can be particularly challenging because it goes against the common tendency to always be striving for improvement or change.

Kabat-Zinn explains that striving can be a significant obstacle to achieving a goal. Non-striving can be surprisingly beneficial in achieving long-term goals by fostering a healthier and more sustainable approach to progress. Here’s how:

• Reduces Stress and Burnout: Constantly striving for specific outcomes can lead to stress and burnout. By adopting a non-striving attitude, you can maintain a more balanced and relaxed state of mind, which is essential for long-term perseverance.
• Enhances Focus and Presence: Non-striving encourages you to be fully present in the moment, which can improve your focus and attention to detail. This mindfulness can lead to better decision-making and more effective actions towards your goals.
• Promotes Acceptance and Flexibility: When you let go of rigid expectations, you become more adaptable to changes and setbacks. This flexibility allows you to navigate challenges more effectively and stay committed to your long-term goals.
• Encourages Intrinsic Motivation: Non-striving shifts the focus from external rewards to intrinsic satisfaction. This means you are more likely to engage in activities because you find them meaningful and enjoyable, rather than just for the sake of achieving a specific outcome.
• Fosters Creativity and Innovation: A non-striving mindset can open up space for creativity and innovation. When you are not fixated on a particular result, you are more likely to explore new ideas and approaches that can lead to unexpected breakthroughs.
• Builds Resilience: By practicing non-striving, you develop a greater sense of resilience. You learn to accept and work with whatever arises, which can help you stay committed to your goals even in the face of difficulties.

In essence, non-striving doesn’t mean giving up on your goals; rather, it means approaching them with a sense of openness, acceptance, and presence. This can create a more sustainable and fulfilling path towards achieving your long-term aspirations.

The concept of non-striving can be particularly helpful when it comes to achieving long-term goals by emphasizing the importance of consistent, small efforts rather than fixating solely on the end result. Non-striving encourages you to pay attention to the journey rather than just the destination. By doing a little each day, you can appreciate the progress you make and stay engaged with the process itself. Breaking down a large goal into manageable daily tasks can make it feel less overwhelming. Non-striving helps you stay present and focused on what you can do today, rather than being daunted by the entire scope of the goal.

The current need to improve cancer care can be overwhelming. There is a lack of cohesive screening, assessment, and supportive care implementation within our cancer programs. We lack dedicated and highly educated providers and teams to provide supportive care. The current oncology treatment teams are burnt out trying to coordinate both cancer treatment and connecting patients to supportive resources. We lack infrastructure around PROMs and documentation of supportive care in EMR. The current ASCO, NCCN, and MASCC guidelines are not consistently integrated into care due to many barriers.

In order to make progress, let’s leverage concepts of non-striving. This means fewer conferences where we make grand aspirational statements and more working groups where we roll up our sleeves and come up with and pilot solutions. This means moving beyond research towards the Learning Health System where research-backed care is provided and we measure the outcomes. Where we start to partner with survivors from the day of diagnosis, their care partners, and all stakeholders around the small steps that are the core of non-striving. We need to explore basic questions such as the ROI and business case for supportive care so that these services will be covered for those that need it.

How am I promoting non-striving through my role as Director of Program Development at the Cancer Survivorship Provider Network?

I strive daily to create a space where all can come together towards the small changes that will get us to the goal. I connect and listen to others to understand the pain points around supportive care and do little things to make a difference.

Here are some examples:

• Curating Information: Making it easier for providers and staff to provide supportive care by curating information that is needed in one place through our online community. In the CSPN, you can learn about survivorship and supportive care conferences, discover patient resources and listen to presentations for community-based organizations, view survivorship research opportunities, share clinical resources, and more.
• Facilitating Multidisciplinary Work: Providing a place for multidisciplinary work and a space for professional organizations that require membership to interface with those that cannot join their group.
• Creating Working Groups: Establishing working groups to look at barriers and start to come up with solutions like the new ROI and business case working group that is being started in the near future and spearheaded by Patricia Falconer.
• Innovative Options: Looking at innovative options such as a mentorship program where researchers can meet with administrators, providers, and staff to help guide the implementation of their study in clinical care.
• Education and Knowledge: Creating education and the knowledge needed around supportive care. The CSPN has a large library of content that we are always creating (a little each month) and we have the capacity to host courses for other organizations or groups.

And so much more…

I hope that all the experts that speak at conferences, professionals that work in cancer care centers, and those working on community-based solutions would consider joining us in one place to practice some non-striving together.

Learn more and join for free at www.thescpn.org