The diagnosis and treatment of cancer can result in long-lasting side effects, which interfere with a person’s ability to work, engage socially, and perform daily activities. To optimize patient outcomes, the healthcare system must focus not only on controlling the cancer but also on improving functioning and quality of life for individuals.
There is an urgent need for research that can help to inform care for cancer survivors, including the early identification of physical side effects and the development of effective and sustainable cancer rehabilitation programs that can be supported and maintained within our health care system.
The CanRehab team is made up of a large group of cancer survivors, researchers and clinicians at four cancer centres across Canada (British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador). This team has been awarded funding for five years from the Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Institutes of Health Research to conduct three linked projects that are focused on improving equal access to timely, effective, and appropriate cancer rehabilitation.
- Project One will develop and evaluate an online system to screen patients for cancer-related impairments and improve access to cancer rehabilitation services.
- Project Two will test an 8-week on-line cancer rehabilitation program and examine implementation factors.
- Project Three will test the feasibility of a rehabilitation program for the growing number of survivors with incurable cancer.
Through the three linked projects, the goal is to improve the identification of adverse effects, increase access to cancer rehabilitation, and extend reach to include a growing population of cancer survivors, including those living with metastatic cancer.