Introducing the Circle Of Sharing™ – are you in?

Highlights To create a Circle Of Sharing of your own, click here. Circle Of Sharing is personalized, privacy- and security-enhanced, easy-to-use, and convenient.

The American Cancer Society and Microsoft HealthVault have recently introduced a very helpful Web-based tool for people with cancer. Called Circle Of Sharing, this privacy- and security-enhanced online tool provides an easy way to learn more about your type of cancer, store your personal cancer information, and share that information with others if you choose. It’s up to you.

Here’s How Circle Of Sharing Works:

After creating your Circle, you enter whatever personal cancer information you wish – such as diagnosis, treatment plan, and side effects. This information is stored in Microsoft HealthVault, a personal health platform that allows users to gather, store, and share health information online. Then you’ll receive links to articles on cancer.org that directly relate to your situation. For instance, if you were to enter "breast cancer" as your diagnosis and "radiation" as your treatment, you would receive links to American Cancer Society documents about breast cancer and radiation therapy.

These links are stored in your Circle Of Sharing so you can go back to them as often as you wish. You can search for and store additional information from cancer.org, and find local resources like treatment centers, support groups, or services that may be relevant to you.

You can choose to share any of this information with your trusted circle of caregivers, family, and friends by inviting them to join your Circle. Members of your Circle can see some general information about how to cope with cancer, and whichever of your personal documents you make available to them. This allows you to share information about your cancer experience without having to talk about the same details over and over again. You can also control how much personal information is shared and maintain as much privacy as you want.

You can use the Circle Of Sharing email function to exchange messages with the members of your Circle, too.

Of course, you don't have to invite members into your Circle if you don't want to. You can use Circle Of Sharing just to learn more about your cancer and search for resources and programs if you like.

Your privacy is protected by Microsoft HealthVault.

To get started with Circle Of Sharing, you'll need to create an account in Microsoft HealthVault. Your personal information will be stored in this account and will be protected by the security and privacy enhancements that Microsoft has built into the system.

The American Cancer Society is here to guide you through every step of the cancer experience, so you can focus on getting well. If you need cancer-related information or support, please contact us at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.

For a full list of frequently asked questions and answers, including ones about your privacy, click here.