The Benefit of Nontraditional Rehabilitation Settings and Care Delivery Models for People Living With and Beyond Cancer

Abstract

At this time, patients navigating cancer care have unique needs, often requiring care in multiple locations and by several types of professionals. Therefore, patients experience a myriad of issues related to accessing cancer care including transportation, complexity of care, 1 risk of infection, appointment fatigue, costs related to care management, 2 work and home life absence, social and community obligations, and psychosocial effects. 3 The COVID-19 pandemic has also created additional barriers to care, further inflating many of the aforementioned factors and adding another layer of complexity with sometimes unforeseeable disruptions to cancer treatment plans. Any combination of these reasons, in addition to financial burden and difficulty with scheduling care due to work or other home obligations, often poses limitations to accessing traditional rehabilitation services.As the current model of care dictates, patients often follow up with their oncology physician or advanced care provider to better understand issues or treatment-related side effects they encounter. Then, the provider makes a referral to a rehabilitation professional such as a physical therapist (PT), occupational therapist, or speech-language pathologist if the provider deems it necessary. However,