Tag: Cancer

Un Abrazo Intervention May Help Address Distress, Anxiety, and Depression in Cancer Co-Survivors

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Dr. Catherine Marshall’s latest publication makes the case for adding interventions like Un Abrazo Para La Familia™ to the standard of care. Data show it may improve access to mental health care and help support vulnerable and underserved populations.

Family caregivers, or cancer co-survivors, are unpaid volunteers who spend time and energy caring for and fearing for a loved one undergoing cancer treatment (a cancer survivor). There are approximately 2.8 million people providing this type of informal care in the United States. A caregiver may work closely with cancer care clinical teams, administer drugs, report any concerns on behalf of the patient, manage health insurance claims, and keep other family members informed of the patient’s condition. Many who have taken up this role have reported lacking resources or support. Reports show that rates of depression for cancer patients and their loved ones is approximately twice as high as for people who live in the same communities. Caregiving is often characterized as a public health crisis.

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New Alliance Infographic: Eliminating Barriers to Care in Oncology

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BARRIERS TO CARE can affect a person’s ability to access patient-centered cancer care. What are some of the most commonly reported ones?

Interviews were conducted with key stakeholders from across the six Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care grantee sites to better understand their perspectives on their most important accomplishments, challenges faced, and lessons learned in their work to improve care coordination and access to care.

Some of the questions touched on health disparities, with grantees sharing their experiences and those of their patients. They described a wide variety of factors that influence a person’s ability to access high-quality, equitable cancer care. We collected some of their most common responses here.

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Supportive Cancer Care Models and Equity – Reaching the Underserved through Telehealth

A NEW ALLIANCE TO ADVANCE PATIENT-CENTERED CANCER CARE WEBINAR

The world has changed significantly over the past year, but the needs of vulnerable and underserved patients remain as urgent as ever. Supportive care interventions aim to prevent and treat physical, psychological, social, and spiritual problems related to cancer. Alliance program partners are improving the quality of life of vulnerable and underserved persons with cancer through supportive care programs that aim to address their psychosocial concerns and reduce barriers to care. As many clinical centers around the country have had to increase their reliance on telehealth to deliver safe cancer care, the Alliance sites, too, have been working to adapt to the new world order.

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Lorena Verdugo, Dr. Julie Armin, and Juanita Trejo

Addressing Language and Education Barriers in Southern Arizona

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Two University of Arizona researchers presented posters at a local research fair highlighting interventions underway at UACC aimed at improving patient-centered cancer care for underserved populations.

[featured image – Left to Right: Lorena Verdugo, Dr. Julie Armin, and Juanita Trejo]

On May 2nd, The University of Arizona’s Juanita Trejo, MPH and Yvonne Bueno, MPH, OTR/L, presented posters at the 3rd Annual El Rio Research Fair “Innovations in Community Health”. Juanita Trejo, a recent graduate from the University of Arizona Master of Public Health program, presented a poster on the process of training Community Health Workers (CHWs) for The University of Arizona Cancer Center’s (UACC) expansion of Dr. Catherine A. Marshall’s Un Abrazo Para La Familia™ (Abrazo) program, Embracing the Family. She was awarded 2nd place in the innovation category. Yvonne Bueno, a 4th year Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) student at the University of Arizona’s College of Public Health, presented the results of qualitative survivorship care interviews, an important research tool in the expansion of UACC’s patient navigation program. She was recognized in the relevance category, earning 3rd place.

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Grady Cancer Center Recognized for High-Quality Cancer Care by ASCO

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One of the six Alliance sites, Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Health System, has been awarded QOPI® certification by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc.

The Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Health System has been recognized by the QOPI® Certification Program LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®), as successfully completing a three-year certification program for outpatient hematology-oncology practices that meet nationally recognized standards for quality cancer care. The QOPI® Certification Program builds on ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®).

Continue reading at the Grady Health System website.

Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care Webinar

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Bridging Primary Care and Oncology in the Era of Patient-Centered Cancer Care: Challenges, Opportunities and Lessons Learned

The role of primary care in cancer control is expanding, due in part to an increased emphasis on cancer care delivery that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values (Committee on Quality of Health Care in America. Institute of Medicine, 2001). Current research data shows that Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) have a positive impact on early cancer diagnosis, treatment outcomes, and survivorship support, improving the quality of life of cancer patients across the continuum of care (Coburn & Collingridge, 2015).

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Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Opens a Survivorship Clinic

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The Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady launched the Survivorship Clinic in partnership with Dr. Wilhelmina Prinssen, MD, FAAFP, Medical Director of the Asa Yancey Health Center. The clinic ensures that all cancer survivors, including high-risk patients, smoothly transition from specialized oncology care back to primary care.

Last March, The Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady launched the Survivorship Clinic, in partnership with Dr. Wilhelmina Prinssen, MD, FAAFP, Medical Director of the Asa Yancey Health Center. The Grady Survivorship Clinic leverages partnerships with primary care physicians to gain access to tools in the primary care environment while sharing Cancer Center information with the Grady Neighborhood Clinics. The site boasts a 100% initial participation rate, and Grady is working on expanding services and monitoring long-term compliance.

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Bridging the Communication Divide: Patient-Provider Communication Training at Johns Hopkins

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Johns Hopkins Aims to Increase Patient-Provider communication through web based video training sessions with patients

A cancer diagnosis is a life-altering event. The Journal of Clinical Oncology and the Journal of General Internal Medicine report that patients are often unprepared to discuss their treatment plan with their physicians, and as a result can feel overwhelmed and anxious. These negative emotions can influence the patient-clinician relationship, as Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care Principal Investigator Dr. Adrian Dobs explains: “Doctors are busy, patients don’t know what to ask, they’re overwhelmed with the diagnosis, they’re overwhelmed with the choices that they’re being given and the communication between the patient and the health care provider can be very strained.”

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Alliance featured in Merck story, “Charting a New Course in Cancer Care”

While there have been significant advancements in cancer treatment, many cancer patients still do not receive the help they need.

The Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care is highlighted in Merck’s featured story “Charting a New Course in Cancer Care.” The story includes information and profiles on Alliance program partners, as well as an overview of Alliance goals.

Continue reading at the Merck Foundation website.

Merck Foundation Announces Six Program Grant Recipients for Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care

Alliance Aims to Reduce Disparities in Access to High-Quality Cancer Care

KENILWORTH, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Merck Foundation (Foundation), announced today the selection of the six program sites and National Program Office forming the Alliance to Advance Patient-Centered Cancer Care (the Alliance). With $15 million in funding from the Foundation over five years, the Alliance aims to increase timely access to patient-centered cancer care for vulnerable and underserved populations in the United States.

Continue reading at the Merck Foundation website.