What’s going on?

BC now offers an educational series for carriers of the BRCA genes, their loved ones and the health community. This group is a joint partnership project of BRCAinBC, UBC Medicine, InspireHealth and BC Cancer Hereditary Cancer Program, with funding from the UBC Community University Engagement Fund and the Diamond Family Foundation. The sessions launched in September 2023 and are currently funded to run for a minimum of two years.

We have completed Year 1 of this series.

You can find recordings of all the previous sessions here.

What does the program involve?

Each BRCA Support BC education session includes a presentation and Q&A with a specialist on a wide variety of topics in a supportive and welcoming peer environment. Covered topics may include preventative options, hormone management, BRCA and sexual health, surgical options, coping with stress, family planning, and so on. The sessions are facilitated by a clinical counsellor from InspireHealth and we will always have a representative health professional from the BC Cancer Hereditary Cancer Program present to answer questions and help connect participants with local resources.

The educational session is held every 3rd Thursday of the month, reconvening in September 2024.

Program Objectives

• To offer informational and emotional support for people and their families at risk of hereditary cancers.

• To provide education about hereditary cancers and related issues to improve understanding and personal decision-making.

• To collect data to assess the program and its effectiveness for funding continuation.

Who can attend?

This program is currently available to individuals who carry a BRCA gene mutation, their loved ones and health professionals who work with the BRCA+ community. While the program is open to people of any gender, many of the topics covered will be more applicable to people identified as female at birth. We hope to provide more appropriate support mechanisms to male carriers in the near future.

Is the group only online or can I attend in person?

In the future, we hope to provide more options for in-person support, however, as we would like this group to be accessible to all people across the province, we are currently only offering an online format.

Is there a cost to attend?

At present, attendance is free of charge, but registration is required and you may be asked for information following your involvement about your experiences with the group.

How do I sign up?

You must sign up for each session you would like to attend individually through the provided links. Registration closes 24 hours before the sessions to allow for the distribution of private, secure links to attendees.