Health service provider responses to indigenous peoples with cancer: An integrative review

Abstract

Indigenous populations around the world have a higher burden of cancer incidence, severity and mortality. This integrative review aims to identify and appraise the evidence of health providers’ responses to the issue of indigenous peoples with cancer. A surprisingly small number of studies were found (n = 9) that reported on programmes and interventions for indigenous people with cancer, the majority of which were from the USA. Our review shows that a service delivery approach that is focused on the indigenous population and includes culturally appropriate activities, resources and environments resulted in an increase in cancer knowledge, reduction in treatment interruption, improved access to cancer care and enrolment in clinical cancer trials, and increased satisfaction with health care. However, the question of why there are so few published studies needs further consideration.

Tele-Oral Oncology: Reinvigorating Telemedicine in Oral Cancer Care

“…Teleoncology has been shown to be an effective and acceptable model to deliver cancer-related education and real-time monitoring post-diagnosis and post-treatment to patients through phone messaging, calls and video communications. [ 13 , 17 ] The patient acceptance has been positive due to the immediate access, reduced waiting times to communicate with their provider, the reduced cost (e.g., travelling long distances to appointments) compared to face-to-face appointments and the accessibility of medical advice and treatment planning from a multidisciplinary health-care team. [ 13 , 17 , 18 ] To establish optimal oral cancer care through TOO, a multidisciplinary team trained in telehealth models is crucial and this team would ideally consist of a gamut of dental and medical specialists such as oral medicine specialists, oral and maxillofacial pathologists, oral radiologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists and maxillofacial prosthodontists.…”

“…[ 13 , 17 ] The patient acceptance has been positive due to the immediate access, reduced waiting times to communicate with their provider, the reduced cost (e.g., travelling long distances to appointments) compared to face-to-face appointments and the accessibility of medical advice and treatment planning from a multidisciplinary health-care team. [ 13 , 17 , 18 ] To establish optimal oral cancer care through TOO, a multidisciplinary team trained in telehealth models is crucial and this team would ideally consist of a gamut of dental and medical specialists such as oral medicine specialists, oral and maxillofacial pathologists, oral radiologists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists and maxillofacial prosthodontists. Such a multidisciplinary approach is crucial for comprehensive high-quality patient care and large specialty teams of this nature, especially in underserved areas, are otherwise difficult to achieve without telemedicine.…”