The question with face to face, small, or individual support functions (and why we chose this format) is that in each situation it is really dependent on that one volunteer's knowledge, experiences and people skills. When I first came out of treatment I went to two different SPOHNC group meetings in different states. To be honest they were a waste of time. No one knew anything, and while they were nice people (the 4 that were there), and could sympathize with my problems, no one had any work arounds or answers. Here, you get lots of ideas. You get input from people from all types of treatments, geographic locations (private pay and socialized), and while some (me in particular) are not so good at giving emotional support but better on science, others make up for that. That's why we did this instead of trying to do multiple face to face or phone support. Also people come and go. Someone like Gary for instance, who is one of the strongest posters on OCF, eventually gets tired of answering the same questions over and over. He takes a brake for several months then comes back. Others are here for awhile after treatment then move on with their lives. If he/they were the phone person, how does this work?

Brian, stage 4 oral cancer survivor. OCF Founder and Director. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.