The next schedule of programmes on the University of Malta’s radio station Campus FM (103.7) includes a programme entitled Il-Vjaġġ Uman tal-Kanċer (the human journey of cancer).

The episodes will give listeners a glimpse of what patients and relatives go through from diagnosis to recovery, or the loss and mourning of the patient. Various experts will be interviewed, including an oncologist, psychiatrist and psychologist, besides a priest, patients and relatives.

The programme aims to address the stigma of cancer; the philosophical thinking associated with the illness; how illness changes one’s perspective on life; the slow losses of the cancer patient due to progression of the illness; hope and hopelessness; the concept of waiting; the language used; loneliness; how faith may help or may not help the patient; values; and life changes.

The initiative to produce the programme was taken by Pauline Dimech from the University of Malta’s Faculty of Theology and Faculty of Education; Christian Colombo, from the Faculty of ICT and chair of the Malta Humanist Association; and counsellor and family therapist Jenny Zammit, formerly at the Department of Psychiatry.

The initiative is part of a larger project called ‘Dialogue and Existential Inquiry Platform’ (DEIP), initiated by Colombo and Tyrone Grima from MCAST, which is aiming to explore existential issues in a spirit of openness to different viewpoints and philosophies of life.

The programme started on Tuesday, April 5, and will be aired every Tuesday at 1.30pm with a repetition on Thursdays at 12.30pm. It runs for 13 weeks.

The first programme features a conversation with an oncologist on breaking the news, treatment plans and on diagnosis or prognosis.

The programmes will eventually also be available for download here.