Harjeet Kaur, Member Services at Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, shared on LinkedIn:
“From patient to partner – and this week, that journey has brought me to the World Cancer Congress 2026 in Hong Kon.
I’m proud to be here representing Chai and Hope and joining this global community as a patient advocate, patient partner and speaker from Canada – connecting with patient advocates, researchers, healthcare professionals and cancer leaders from around the world.
Seven years ago, I was navigating a Stage IV rare blood cancer diagnosis. Today, I’m here as a cancer survivor, patient advocate, patient partner, co-founder of Chai and Hope – and a speaker.
Tomorrow, September 25, I’ll be speaking on the Spotlight Stage.
Spotlight Stage – Session 4
10:40–11:10 AM
Hall 3F – Spotlight Stage
My talk, ‘From Patient to Partner: Turning Lived Experience into Health Equity,’ explores something I care deeply about: how we move lived experience beyond storytelling and into meaningful partnership in research, healthcare, policy and decision-making.
Because patient voices matter far beyond social media and sharing our stories. But there’s another part of meaningful patient engagement that we need to talk about:
Who supports patients to actually get into these rooms?
Being invited to contribute is important. But participation comes with real costs – registration, travel, accommodation, time and other barriers that can determine who gets to participate and whose voices are represented.
That reality has made me think even more deeply about what we mean when we say we want to ‘include the patient voice.’
If we want diverse patient voices represented at national and global tables, we also need structures that make it possible for patients to be there. Supporting patient voices cannot stop at inviting patients to tell their stories.
It means investing in their participation. Removing financial and accessibility barriers. Recognizing lived experience as expertise. And involving patients as partners from the beginning – not as an afterthought.
Representation matters. But access to the table matters too.
And that’s why connection and collaboration at the World Cancer Congress mean so much to me. If you’re attending, come find me at the Spotlight Stage tomorrow – or please say hello if you see me around the Congress.
I’d love to connect with patient advocates, researchers, healthcare professionals and organizations working across patient engagement, health equity, survivorship, research and meaningful patient partnership – especially those interested in exploring how we can better support and invest in patient-led work.
Sometimes collaboration starts with nothing more than, ‘Hi, I saw your LinkedIn post.’ So, who else is here in Hong Kong? Connect with me here on LinkedIn or come say hello in person. I’d love to meet you.
World Cancer Congress 2026 – Hong Kong
September 24–26, 2026.”
You may also find this interesting:
