Canteen AU Builds a Reliable Data Collection Process for Young Adult Cancer Support

Case Study Snapshot

While the nature of their work can be emotional, Canteen holds an invaluable place in the medical and social work communities of Australia. Although it might initially be difficult to see how data collection supports Canteen’s cancer outreach efforts, discovering FormAssembly has been an instrumental part of Canteen’s growth and digitalization. 

Business Analyst Tracey Ho was originally tasked with migrating Canteen’s existing legacy system to Salesforce, and throughout that process, discovered how beneficial and essential FormAssembly is for case management processes.

About

Canteen Australia helps young people find the emotional strength they need to deal with cancer. Canteen supports 12 to 25 year-olds dealing with their own diagnosis, a close family member’s cancer or the death of a loved one. Our services also now extend to parents, because when they cope better with cancer and communicate openly, their children are likely to experience less distress and anxiety. Canteen provides a wide range of support services including:

• Connection with other young people in similar situations through events and programs
• Free counseling and individual support
• 24/7 online support communities for young people and parents
• Specialist treatment and support services for young cancer patients in hospital and then our teams help them with getting back on their feet

Canteen is Australia’s leading youth cancer charity and works closely with partners, donors, other charity organizations, supporters and referrers.

Replacing manual processes with an automated, integrated workflow

During Canteen’s migration from its old legacy system, the team decided to work with Salesforce and use apps that were designed specifically for case management. With the old system, there were no options for integrating data from different sources. As the organization migrated to Salesforce, capturing incoming data for service uses and through website forms became important for streamlining the intake process. The new flow of data also provided clarity on when and how to refer applicants for other services or outside partnerships.  

Additionally, Canteen was previously using many paper forms that necessitated picking up the phone and asking for clarifying details in a one-on-one format. Now, staff members can simply ask similar intake questions through conditional form questions, while achieving their goals for fast and accurate consent and participation forms. 

“There was definitely a need to have more digital options than having strictly paper processes,” Tracey said. Relying on manual data, printing, and mailing forms took up a significant amount of time and resources.

Expanding possibilities with smarter web form features

For forms and data collection, Canteen was previously leveraging tools like Salesforce web to case forms on their website. But these forms had major limits, especially when it came to usability and record creation. FormAssembly provides a robust integration and top-notch features that make it a total game-changer. 

“The [FormAssembly] integration with Salesforce is so strong. Yes, it takes a learning curve to kick off, but once you’ve got it, you’ve got the freedom to create as many records as you could possibly need,” Tracey said.

Tracey and her team have appreciated that FormAssembly doesn’t have limitations for:

• New form responses
• The ability to create new records created from incoming data
• The amount of custom and dependent objects

When compared to other options on the market, FormAssembly’s features and flexibility were major selling points. 

And with FormAssembly’s nonprofit discount, it became easier for Canteen to level up to an Enterprise Cloud plan to get access to more specialized features like Salesforce Dynamic Picklists, which expanded their integration even further.

Additionally, the compliance aspect of FormAssembly was a huge perk for Canteen. Data security is especially important for Canteen, because they’re asking quite personal and in-depth questions about medical and cancer experiences. Realizing that FormAssembly was compliant with eSignature made the choice that much easier.

In terms of future expansion, Tracey and her team are excited to continue using the current forms that follow the lifecycle of standard client intake processes. They can easily and quickly collect all the information they need for one particular service area of the organization. As processes continue to flow smoothly, Tracey would love to expand and duplicate FormAssembly in other key areas of the business.

“We’re also looking to totally digitize all programs and events,” Tracey says. This means using forms to power the events that help clients make peer connections, find therapeutic groups, and discover other encouraging opportunities. In every single event or program, staff need detailed consent (for medication, photography, and other permissions), which can become a very involved process. Having our forms digitized also makes it easier for families who are in hospital or away from home to provide this information to Canteen on the go.

FormAssembly features could allow these processes to flow even more seamlessly, allowing Canteen to reach more people who rely on help and support during a critical time.