Access to Medical and Supportive Care for Rural and Remote Cancer Survivors in Northern British Columbia

Abstract

Medical and supportive care can be inaccessible, unavailable, and unaffordable for cancer survivors living in rural northern communities.

Cancer support services: Are they meeting the needs of rural radiotherapy patients?

“…Although the psychosocial well-being of the patients in our study was addressed through the availability of professional psychosocial support (which may be due to their proximity to Bunbury and the reported use of videoconferencing to help with providing support), such support services are not widely available for rural cancer patients, with many psychosocial needs remain unmet (Howard et al, 2014;Lawler, Spathonis, Masters, Adams, & Eakin, 2011;Pascal et al, 2015). The challenges faced by rural health professionals in providing appropriate psychosocial support have also been documented (Breen & O'Connor, 2013).…”

“…For those patients living in rural or remote locations and needing to travel to access even a regional radiotherapy service, support mechanisms are needed to deal with the additional stressors they face (Hegney et al, 2005). Travel for treatment imposes a disproportionate financial burden on rural patients, as well as inconvenience and social costs for patients and their families (Gordon, Ferguson, Chambers, & Dunn, 2009;Hegney et al, 2005;Howard et al, 2014). Although most of our participants were not based in locations at a large distance from the Service (13 of the 17 participants lived within 20 km of the city), our study found that providing travel and accommodation assistance alleviated some of the burden of treatment, with many participants identifying this assistance as a major contributor which enabled their treatment to proceed.…”

“…A further implication of their physical isolation is that rural cancer patients often lack access to trusted and useful information (Howard et al, 2014) and so may not be aware of support services which are available. Although a small number of our participants mentioned a failure of information regarding support services, these related to health care providers such as GPs with few patients with cancer, or at least a specific sort of cancer, who were not as wellinformed as those directly involved in cancer care.…”

How Do Allied Health Professionals Construe the Role of the Remote Workforce? New Insight into Their Recruitment and Retention

“…Reduced access to health services disadvantages rural and remote residents and results in poorer health outcomes compared with residents of urban areas [4,5]. In Australia, similar to many parts of Canada and the United States of America (USA), remote regions are characterized by vast distances between large population centers, harsh geography and climate, small and dispersed populations, and populations that are more likely to be Indigenous.…”

Caregiving among American Indians and Alaska Natives with cancer

“…Financial instability for both caregivers and patients can stem from work absences, loss of employment, limited insurance coverage, and expenses incurred by travel to treatment centers. Finances are a common source of worry for oncology patients of all races [24], among whom high levels predict delays in seeking care for colorectal cancer symptoms [25] and follow-up medical treatments among cancer survivors [26]. In a nationally representative sample of cancer survivors, about one-third reported significant financial problems that predicted delay or omission of follow-up medical care, including filling prescriptions and seeking mental health treatment [27].…”