The Existential Dispatch, Issue No. 42

A Word from the Founding Director

Existential inquiry asks us to attend not only to what happens within a person, but to the relations and systems that make a life more or less livable. This issue moves from gaps in psychosocial oncology access to a Latin American caregiver resource co-designed around connection, and from a film about aging and mortality to new models of peer support. Across these settings, belonging is not an abstract theme: it is part of the conditions of care.

Existential Thinker of the Issue

Emmanuel Mounier

“A person exists only toward others, knows herself only through others, and finds herself only in others.” — Emmanuel Mounier, Le personnalisme (1949), translation from the French: classiques.uqam.ca

Mounier's personalism treats relation as constitutive of personhood, not an optional addition to an already self-sufficient individual. Clinically, this invites attention to the relationships, communities, and possibilities for mutual recognition that illness can unsettle; supporting autonomy need not mean leaving someone to manage alone. (Translation from the French text.)

In Academia

Who reaches specialist psycho-oncology? A service survey published September 18 found that 8.4% of patients were referred to specialist support across 25 psychology-led NHS services in England and Scotland, below the roughly 25% estimated to need it; 83% of services judged referrals to under-represent need. The gap between distress and access is not merely administrative: it determines whose suffering can be met in care. onlinelibrary.wiley.com

In Film, Literature and Culture

The Oldest Person in the World. Sam Green's new documentary began as a portrait of supercentenarians; during its decade-long making, the director welcomed a son and received a cancer diagnosis, and the film widened into a meditation on aging, family, and being alive. Its juxtaposition of mortality with new life offers a careful cultural prompt for conversations about what sustains us across generations. sundance.org

In Healthcare (Global)

Co-designing cancer caregiver support in Latin America. Published September 17, this study brought 342 caregivers, clinicians, academics, and policymakers from Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, and Peru into the design of a Spanish-language digital resource. Participants emphasized accessible information and care navigation alongside peer connection and face-to-face contact, positioning digital support as a complement—not a replacement—for human relationships. onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Funding and Grant Opportunities

Gilead/Kite Canada Oncology & Hematology Community Grants. The second 2026 intake is open, with proposals due October 16. The program supports new or expanded community projects intended to reduce inequity and improve cancer-care experiences, including for LGBTQIA+ communities. Organizations considering community-partnered access or equity work should check the current eligibility rules and application requirements. gilead.com

Conferences and Events

Supportive oncology and cancer policy, this autumn. MASCC's international calendar lists the UKASCC Supportive Oncology Summit in London on October 16 and the European Cancer Summit in Brussels and virtually on November 18–19. Both dates may be useful for scholars following how psychosocial support and equity are taken up across clinical and system settings. mascc.org

Startup and Innovation Watch

One Small Step enters a physician-connected accelerator. Named in Techstars' September 18 healthcare cohort announcement, One Small Step is developing an AI-enabled marketplace for on-demand access to certified peer support for people with addiction and serious mental illness. The design question worth watching is whether technology can reduce the friction of finding human support while preserving trust, safety, and continuity. techstars.com

To Close: An Existential Joke

Why did the existentialist bring a calendar to the clinic? To see whether the future was really booked.