What is Work Stride?

Work Stride provides information and nurse navigator support to help employees, dependents, caregivers and managers understand and navigate the cancer journey. This approach keeps everyone who has access informed, engaged and feeling supported.

Why Work Stride

THE CHALLENGE
For 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women, life-threatening cancer is in the future. Many of us will be working at the time of diagnosis, all hoping for a cure and that our lives will be as normal as possible as we go through treatment and strive for that cure.

THE SOLUTION
Work Stride is a low-cost, high-impact employee benefit program that enables organizations to help their employees prevent cancer, recognize the early warning signs of the disease, and understand and manage cancer treatment. This approach keeps employees informed, engaged, and feeling supported.

BENEFITS
Provides employees support:
  • Talking to manager and colleagues about a diagnosis
  • Understanding their cancer-related health care benefits
  • Recommending cancer-related government subsidies
  • Identifying risk factors and early warning signs
  • Working during treatment
  • Managing life as a caregiver
  • Recognizing the value of regular cancer screenings


The Human Touch

A key component of Work Stride is the oncology nurse navigator. The nurse navigator—who is available by email, phone and video—is specially trained to provide information, support and guidance to employees and managers on topics including early detection and screening, managing a cancer diagnosis, balancing treatment with work and family responsibilities, understanding cancer’s financial impact, caregiving, and survivorship.

All Johns Hopkins workplace oncology nurse navigators are certified by the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators

Watch this short video to learn more about the role of the nurse navigator.

The Role of the Nurse Navigator

How It Works

Key features of the Work Stride program

About the program developers

Lillie D. Shockney, R.N., B.S., M.A.S.

Lillie D. Shockney, R.N., B.S., M.A.S., served as the administrative director of the Johns Hopkins Breast Center from 1997 to 2018 and also served as the director of the Johns Hopkins Cancer Survivorship programs from 2011 to 2018. She is a two-time breast cancer survivor, diagnosed in her 30s and again at age 40. She has worked at Johns Hopkins since 1983. Though an oncology nurse, her primary faculty appointment is in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and is a full professor in surgery and oncology in 2016.

The President of The Johns Hopkins University, Dean of the School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Board of Trustees appointed her to a faculty chair as a University Distinguished Service Professor of Breast Cancer. This is the first time in the history of the institution that a hospital nurse has been appointed to a distinguished service designation, and also the first nurse to climb to the top of the physician’s academic ladder.

Read more about Lillie+

Terry Langbaum, M.A.S.

Terry Langbaum, M.A.S., worked at Johns Hopkins for more than 40 years. From 2001 to 2017, Terry served as the chief administrative officer of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. During this time, she worked with now-Professor Lillie Shockney on cancer survivorship initiatives, and together they developed a program to help Johns Hopkins employees who had been diagnosed with cancer, using her own experience as a cancer patient to support and guide others. The program was recognized as a best practice for cancer care by external organizations, including the Maryland Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. By 2016, Terry and Lillie had developed the program for use by companies outside of Johns Hopkins. Today, Work Stride is being offered as an employee benefit by corporations across the country.

Terry fought valiantly against cancer most of her adult life and died in November 2019. Her absence is felt in so many ways; we work to ensure that Terry’s legacy lives on.

Testimonials

Jocelyn Witherspoon

“This organization is so great for opening up a program like this…if [I didn’t] have the support to go through [cancer treatment], then honestly, I don’t know what would have happened.  I am truly, truly grateful.”

Jocelyn Witherspoon
Survivor
Bonnie Windsor

“I can’t tell you how many times employees come to me and thank me for having this benefit. We knew there was a need, but we had no idea how great a need until we actually put the program in place.”

Bonnie Windsor
Senior HR Manager
Nelson

“[The nurse navigator] is a compassionate and knowledgeable resource [providing] outstanding advice and council.”

Nelson
Caregiver
Marie Dieter

“We’re able to self-educate and formulate our management strategies with information that is compliant with HR policy. [We] shared with employees the things we learned and had frank and open conversations with them to ensure
their needs are met.”

Marie Dieter
Manager

Awards

CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ Accreditation
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer

Innovative Systems Change Award
Maryland Cancer Collaborative (MCC)

Gold Winner
Digital Health Awards

Outstanding Website
Internet Advertising Competition Awards

Find out how your organization can benefit
from Work Stride.

REQUEST A DEMO