Cancer Patients to be screened for distress in Northern Ontario
Regional Cancer Program (RCP) patients in communities across northeastern Ontario will soon be screened for emotional distress while receiving chemotherapy treatment. A new project by the Hôpital régional de Sudbury Regional Hospital (HRSRH) Regional Cancer Program (RCP) and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (the Partnership) brings distress screening to 14 Community Oncology Clinic Network (COCN) sites, where 35% of RCP patient chemotherapy treatments are delivered.
“It is important to be proactive and identify distress early so that further assessment of patients’ needs and appropriate referral for further professional intervention to address those needs can happen as quickly as possible to mitigate their distress,” says Carole Mayer, Program Leader & Administrative Manager of the Supportive Care Program and the Supportive Care Oncology Research Unit. “It is part of our commitment to person-centred care, and to regional patients who may not have access to the same resources and services as those in larger centres.”
Work will be carried out by the by the HRSRH Supportive Care Oncology Research Unit (SCORU) RCP with members from the Cancer Journey Action Group of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (the Partnership). In keeping with the Partnership’s goal to provide and foster leadership to promote integrated, person-centred care throughout the cancer journey, the Partnership has committed $227,000 to the project, which will be evaluatedby SCORU.
The project will be conducted as part of the Supportive Care Oncology Network (SCON) which has a mandate to ensure the provision of supportive care services to patients and families impacted by cancer throughout northeastern Ontario. A phased-in approach will be utilized inviting the 14 COCN sites to screen for distress working in partnership with the RCP.
“This project is very much in keeping with our goal of using innovations such at Telemedicine to improve the supports offered to patients in the region and increase inter-professional collaboration and skill development to deal with their needs as they arise,” affirms Interim Vice-President RCP Mark Hartman.