Implementation and Effectiveness of Supportive Care Programs to Improve Equity in Gynecologic Cancer

Project summary

Health Equity Research Grant, Sponsored by GSK

Patients undergoing gynecologic cancer treatments frequently face practical barriers to receiving care including financial strain, transportation challenges, and emotional strain including difficulty coping with decision making and maintaining their daily work or other commitments. In addition, many patients suffer with the physical strain of dealing with treatment side effects.

Treatment decisions are sometimes even more difficult to make when trying to understand the value of clinical trials and whether or not to participate in clinical trials as part of cancer treatment. These challenges especially affect patients who are under-represented or of minority populations including Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. To ensure that all patients have access to guidelines-concordant cancer care, we are developing a patient-supportive care program that addresses practical barriers to receiving care including financial toxicity, transportation assistance, and peer support, and evaluating whether this type of program can improve patients’ receipt of cancer care, avoid treatment delays, and improve their experience. We are specifically interested in learning from patient experiences to develop a toolkit that can be shared with other patients, families, and communities to help educate everyone on gynecologic cancer conditions, how to manage them, and how to reduce the burden of treatment. Our goal is to identify ways to ensure equity in receipt of gynecologic cancer care – in essence, to ensure that all patients can receive optimal care by addressing the practical barriers that patients face.