The Laugh at Cancer Support Community's Organizational Values

About three years ago, a local support group was created to help those touched by cancer and their loved ones. This new group was a blessing to so many families and their friends. However, the group faced many obstacles, which caused the founder to "break-outside-the- box" (Cangemi, J. & Miller, R.) for a solution to overcome these issues. According to Kauffman, 2008), the online support community was moved online in February with the help of Ning networks. Today, the community has over 80 members of all ages who live in many different countries across the world. In addition, every member has been touched by cancer....directly or indirectly!

What is it?

Social Network

This online support community or social network, which is similar to MySpace or Face book, since it offers social networking and new friendships. However, this network is a lot different, because it welcomes members of all ages that have been touched by cancer in anyway. Every member can personalize his or her own profile and visit other member profiles, in order to connect and make friends. In addition, the network offers many discussions and groups for every member to enjoy. The members can also share their photos and inspirational videos with the entire community or with their friend only. Furthermore, this social network has rules, which are strictly enforced by the group's administrators.

Support Community

When cancer touches someone, the patients and the loved ones must to begin building a positive support system. According to Kauffman (2008), this online support community's mission is to help its member's focus on living beyond cancer's touch. In addition, the members enjoy meeting new members, who they can lean on as needed during their personal journey. Each member is invited to share their stories and swap resources, which may help the other members. The community offers many helpful hints and tips, while raising awareness of this devastating disease. Furthermore, the members are encouraged to honor their loved ones or pets on the Honor Wall groups. Many members find the new friendships and connections a blessing, since they no longer feel alone in this fight for their life. There are many useful tips and resources that can help any new member, as they learn to focus beyond cancer's frightening touch.

Helpful Resources

As the community grew, many new members added tips and resources that can help someone touched by cancer. Over the last few months, the website and community has added more resources for those facing this disease. This way, the new members can find the help and support they may be looking for. Most of this information can be found at the official website, unless posted by a member. According to Kauffman (2008), she hopes to make the community interactive and provide resources for those touched by cancer. However, this can only happen, if the member's continue believing in this support community's overall mission.

Why is it different?

Members Matter

In this support community, the members have a hand in its future, unlike the other social networks on the internet. This community belongs to members from the moment they sign up and become a member. They have certain rules they must follow, because our community has members of all ages and cultures. Each member knows that their membership and opinion matters to the community's founder. In addition, when changes need to occur in the community the members are asked to vote and speak their opinion. This practice can sometimes, be frustrating when there are many different ideas that are being presented at one time. Fortunately, most of the time, the members can reach a unanimous decision within the support community. However, sometimes the voting can cause members to disagree and flare up conflict among the many members. As ideas for change are presented, the community's founder will create a special forum for members to speak in. Next, the members are notified by email and asked to send their vote through email, in order to keep their vote personal.

Celebrating Life

Upon entering the community, the member is taken to the main page where the community slogan is "Come Celebrate Life with Us" (Kauffman, 2008). This community encourages each member to celebrate each new day, which they are blessed with. No matter the diagnosis or outcome of the battle, it is important to focus on living everyday to the fullest. The members are reminded that each new day is a gift from their supreme deity. In addition, they are encouraged to focus on living beyond cancer touch. According to Women Health Weekly (2004), researchers believe that online support groups are beneficial to patients, because they are easier to access. Furthermore, support communities can improve a patient's psychological health and give them a positive attitude for the fight.

Laughter Heals

The support community's motto's says it all..."Laugh Everyday...Drive the Cancer Blues Away" (Kauffman, 2008). Every member is encouraged to celebrate their life and make new memories with their loved ones. According to Balick, M. & Lee, R. (2003), humor has an important role in traditional medicine and in a person's life. In addition, Dr. Don Elijio believed that "clowning around" actually helped the patients to "instantly" feel better. Many patients have been known to "survive physically challenging" and "debilitating diseases."

"Get them to laugh, and half their trouble and sickness will go away"~ Dr. Don Elijio (Balick, M. & Lee, R., 2003).

On the community's website, the founder has added many resourceful pages for someone fighting cancer. These pages change frequently, in order to keep the information up to date. Eventually, the founder plans to add more information about how laughter heals the mind, body, and spirit.

How does it work?

Decision-Making Process

The support community has a "creative" way to involve the members in the decision-making process. At this time, the founder of the community handles all ideas and community change requests from members and visitors. The founder and the Vice President share the ideas and decide if it the suggestions will benefit the community. Next, the founder sends a community message, which is sent to every registered member's email. This allows each member to be a part of the community's decision making process, which may affect the community's. However, the founder is solely responsible for electing community officials or volunteers.

Community's Culture

The entire support community and website was built by the founder, who opened the online network by herself on "Feb. 2008" (Kauffman, 2008). The community is five months old and has reached over 80 members, who live all across the globe. The newly elected Vice President usually assists the members and takes care of the community when needed.

At this time, the community has a unique logo that is in the shape of a triangle. In addition, it has four hands inside of it, which are releasing a dove into the air. Inside of the frame, the community's name or "Laugh Everyday" surrounds the triangles borders. The support community's logo is green and white, which is the communities official colors. These unique symbols are used, in order to set the community apart from the other organizations the deal with cancer.

Information Sharing Policy

This support community's members are asked to fill in their own community profile, which is displayed in the community. In addition, the founder has warned members against sharing sensitive or confidential information on their profile. As each member joins, their email and member's name is stored in the support community's database. This information is used to send the member's personal or community emails. The community is closely watched by the administrators, since the community welcomes members of all ages. However, the community's founder is completely against releasing any private information to a third party. Therefore, each member's private information stays confidential and protected, unless they choose to reveal it on their profile.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Laugh at Cancer Support Community is a place where members can find encouragement and support in their time of need. In addition, the community is a large social network, who celebrates life and offers many helpful resources. Each member's opinion matter, because this community wouldn't exist without them. This support community also promotes laughter and friendship for those, who have dealt with cancer touch in anyway. However, the members are included in the decision-making, except when electing volunteers and administrators. The community's motto and logo are an important part of the support community's culture. The administrators of the community are working hard to protect member's sensitive or private information. Furthermore, the members are warned against give out their information to others that they don't know. In the future, the founder is hoping that this community will help each member celebrate his or her own life. Therefore, the support community is a well rounded organization, which seems to be headed in the right direction.

References:

Kauffman, C. (2008) Laugh at Cancer Support Community's Official Website

Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 26, 2008

http://laughatcancer.com

Kauffman, C. (2008) Laugh at Cancer Support Community'sHome

Retrieved from the World Wide Web on July 26, 2008

http://laugheverday.ning.com

Turner, L. & West, R. (2004) Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application (2e)

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Balick, M. & Lee, R. (2003) The role of laughter in traditional medicine and its relevance to the clinical setting: Healing with ha! Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 9(4), 88-91.

Retrieved from Research Library database at UOP on July 30, 2008. (Document ID: 378064891).

Cangemi, J. & Miller, R. (2007) Breaking-out-of-the-box in organizations : Structuring a positive climate for the development of creativity in the workplace. The Journal of Management Development, 26(5), 401-410.

Retrieved from ABI/INFORM Global database. July 30, 2008,

(Document ID: 1343795211).

Women's Health Weekly (2004) Online support improves psychosocial therapy for breast cancer patients: 33.

Retrieved from the UOP/Apollo Library. 31 July 2008

http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS

(Document ID:A118352897)