Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council (APFAC)
Since our inception in 1998, the Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council (APFAC) has served as a national model for healthcare institutions. By partnering with Dana-Farber Brigham Cancer Center staff members regarding adult patient care, we help improve the patient experience and ensure patient- and family-centered care.
What We Do
- Advocate for expanded patient and family support services
- Partner with hospital administration for increased staffing and improved scheduling, when needed
- Implement better communication and service recovery
- Improve infrastructure and physical spaces, including the design of our Chestnut Hill and Foxborough locations, and our Yawkey Center for Cancer Care
Get Involved
Do you want to share your voice and experience, guide the development of projects, and shape key decisions that affect the patient care and family experience at Dana-Farber? Learn more and contact us today.
- Read our informative flyer.
- For more information about the Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council, including membership, please call 617-632-4319, or email pfac@dfci.harvard.edu.
- Apply to join the Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council
Co-chairs, Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC)
May Hara has been a caregiver to her husband, who was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2020. She joined the Adult PFAC with the goal of helping Dana-Farber to provide excellent patient-centered cancer care. May is particularly interested in equitable access to high-quality oncology care, in cancer survivorship, and in palliative care.
Austin Sarat has a long cancer history. He had his first cancer in 1999. Since then, he has been diagnosed with a different cancer in 2010, 2016, and 2019. Austin joined the Adult PFAC to help Dana-Farber to continue to provide the best patient-centered cancer care. He believes that cancer care should focus on the whole person, and that the best way to show gratitude for the care he received is to give time and effort to help others.
At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we are committed to hearing feedback from patients and families from our Adult and Pediatric oncology units.
Learn about the Pediatric Patient and Family Advisory Council (PPFAC)