With resources and opportunities lacking for patients, it is crucial for Canada to push for patient voice in healthcare and research. The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is calling corporate and governmental sources to empower the patient voice through their engagement and community support.
Need
According to Fastercures’ Expanding the Science of Patient Input, patient engagement is the blockbuster drug of the 21st century. When patients are engaged in their healthcare, they influence policies that shape medical products and deepen the researcher’s perspective of their specific needs. Essentially, the traditional patient role is cast away in favour of partnerships, where patients help draft research questions, analyze information, and shape patient-centered outcomes.
The Canadian Institute of Health Research Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research 2016 Masterclass revealed that current research methodology lacks public transparency and collaboration. CCSN’s 2015 Environmental Scan not only found a lack of patient representation on healthcare committees, but also discovered a lack of tools available for training.
Benefit
The Science of Cancer Patient Training Program will not only directly impact the lives of cancer patients in Canada, but it will also impact and benefit Canadian health policy and improve Canadian healthcare.
In Canada, approximately 1 in 2 Canadians are expected to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, with 200,000 newly diagnosed cases of cancer in 2017 (Statistics Canada). There are over one million cancer survivors in Canada. Along with cancer patients and survivors, the Science of Cancer Patient Training Program is accessible to all other groups of individuals affected by cancer. Together, empowered through training and education, those affected by cancer will benefit through their newfound ability to voice their needs and issues.
Not only do cancer patients, survivors and caregivers benefit from the initiative, but patient-engagement sows a multitude of benefits for the Canadian healthcare system. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research Strategy for Patient-oriented Research 2016 masterclass identified that patients can impact the healthcare system through their ability to: ensure that healthcare is transparent, perform risk-benefit analysis to ease the anxiety associated with future treatments, develop and refine patient-oriented outcomes, and ranking issues in Cancer in order of importance.
With resources and opportunities unavailable to patients, it is crucial for Canada to push for patient voice in healthcare and research. The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is calling for corporate and governmental sources to empower the patient voice through their engagement and community support.
As patients have extensive expertise and support they bring to the Canadian healthcare system, this partnership between healthcare agencies and patients mutually benefits both groups.
If you are interested in funding or supporting the Science of Cancer Patient Training Program, please contact the CCSN President & CEO Jackie Manthorne at jmanthorne@survivornet.ca