22 Apr Cancer Survivors: Discussions of Survivorship Have Room For Improvement
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Danielle Blanch Hartigan, PhD, MPH
Cancer Prevention Fellow
National Cancer Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Blanch-Hartigan: Results from this nationally-representative survey of oncologists and PCPs suggest that discussion of survivorship care planning with cancer survivors does not always occur. Training and knowledge specific to survivorship care and coordinated care between PCPs and oncologists were associated with increased survivorship discussions with survivors.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Blanch-Hartigan: Less than 5% of oncologists nationwide reported consistently giving survivors a written survivorship care plan and having discussions of follow-up care with survivors.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Blanch-Hartigan: Creating a written survivorship care plan may not be enough; oncologists and PCPs should involve survivors in the survivorship care planning process through discussions of recommendations for follow-up care.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Blanch-Hartigan: In addition to providing a benchmark to assess implementation of new survivorship care mandates, future research should develop intervention studies to test the hypothesis that improved care coordination and enhanced physician survivorship training will increase the frequency of survivorship care discussions and downstream positive health outcomes for the survivor.
Citation:
JCO JCO.2013.51.7540; published online on April 21, 2014;
Last Updated on April 22, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD