About Bobby’s Coaches
Bobby’s Coaches is a free program that provides one-on-one peer support for teens and young adults ages 15 to 30 who are being treated for cancer at Duke. The program connects participants with peers who have been cancer patients themselves and have a unique understanding of what it’s like to be a young adult coping with cancer. They are trained to help participants navigate their journey through cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survival and can help participants deal with a variety of issues including communicating with providers, finances, career goals, nutrition, exercise, and identity after treatment.
“I had loads of support ... but not someone who could understand my exact perspective when I would get upset about certain things—they could sympathize but not empathize. I thought Bobby’s Coaches could be the missing piece about why I felt so lonely in my diagnosis. [Coaching] made everything so much less stressful and isolating.”
— Bobby’s Coaches Participant
Bobby’s Coaches is not therapy. Rather, peer coaches act as guides during this time in your life and cancer journey. They are peers who “get it” as they too have experienced a cancer diagnosis, treatment, and making sense of a new normal. Together, peer coaches and patients identify short and medium-term goals that improve quality of life and the meaningful and manageable steps to get there.
Participants interact privately with their coach by phone or text using a secure platform that allows participants to communicate via phone and direct messages without exchanging personal contact information. Calls can be scheduled weekly or every other week for up to 12 months.
“You can talk with someone that understands in a way that most people can’t ... I don't think I'd be the same person if I didn’t have this connection.”
— Bobby’s Coaches Participant
Peer Coaching
The coaching process meets each person where they are on any given day. Our coaches are young adult cancer survivors who received training and supervision by mental health professionals. Coaches foster skill-building for long-term health and wellness in teen and young adult cancer survivors. Coaches are the experts in the coaching process, but patients are the experts in their lives and what’s important to them.
“I wanted to start moving forward from having cancer ... Being able to know how to maintain my health and not getting anxious every time something happened health-wise.”
— Bobby’s Coaches Participant
Through peer coaching, the coach walks the participant through a process of envisioning where they see themselves going, what’s important to them, and what steps are meaningful and manageable to get to where they want to be. This includes:
- Connecting on the experience of being a teen or young adult cancer survivor
- Setting personal and realistic wellness goals
- Identifying barriers to reaching their goals and creating strategies to overcome them
Coaches provide personalized support based on shared experiences such as diagnosis, treatments, and the emotional, social and physical impacts of having cancer.
“Having someone who had the same experience as me and dealing what he does in his own daily life stops myself from thinking I can’t do something. I see him doing it and we’ve gone through the same things so I’m able to also pursue further.”
— Bobby’s Coaches Participant
Our Coaches
Bobby's Coaches are peer supporters who have lived experience in the following areas:
- Diagnosis: Receiving a diagnosis of blood, bone, lymph node, breast, and small organ cancers as a child, teen, or young adult
- Treatments: Engaging in chemotherapy, radiation, endocrine therapy, immunotherapy, bone marrow transplant, and surgery as part of their treatment
- Fertility Decisions: Navigating decisions about and engaging in fertility preservation services
- School and Work: Pausing, and re-engaging with, career and school as a result of diagnosis and treatment
- Independence and Support: Negotiating independence with caregivers and support networks during and post-treatment
- Self-Advocacy: Building and exercising self-advocacy skills in the context of cancer care, the workforce, educational environments, and interpersonal relationships
“I value what I do now more than I did before [working with a peer coach].”
— Bobby’s Coaches Participant
Donations & Sponsors
Donations
Your support allows us to continue our critical work to support adolescent and young adult patients with cancer at no-cost to the patient and their family. Donate today!
If you have any questions regarding donations, please contact bobbys_coaches@duke.edu. All donations are tax-deductible and we are grateful for your support.
Sponsors and Partners
Bobby's Coaches is graciously supported by the I'm Not Done Yet Foundation.
Bobby's Coaches partners with the Duke Cancer Institute, the Duke Teen and Young Adult Oncology Program and the Duke Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences.
Contact Us
If you are interested in enrolling in coaching, please fill out the participant agreement.
Questions about peer coaching and the Bobby's Coaches program? Contact us for more information.