Patient support programs ensure Albertans’ needs are met to help ease their cancer journey.
By Olivia Piché
Photograph by Jared Sych
Once an individual receives the news of a cancer diagnosis, they are quickly thrown into a new, often-overwhelming world, adding to the already existing challenges of life.
“The complexities that people with cancer deal with are so enormous,” says Dr. Linda Watson, the executive director of supportive care services and patient experience for Cancer Care Alberta. “That’s why supportive care programming is so important.”
Getting through a cancer journey requires more than treatment and surgery, and that’s where Alberta’s robust support programs come into play, such as the psychosocial oncology department and rehab programs. To further enhance cancer outcomes, the Alberta Cancer Foundation helps fund supportive initiatives beyond the core services, including the Patient Financial Assistance Program and the Cancer Patient Navigation Program.
Support programs offer a personalized approach to cancer care, providing resources, education and assistance in whatever unique capacity the patient may require. That might include counselling, physiotherapy and care coordination.
“How someone experiences cancer is as unique as [their] fingerprints,” explains Watson. “We have to understand who the person is, beyond their disease.”
Personalized care
Watson helped lead the implementation of the Cancer Patient Navigation Program back in 2012. She recognized that certain populations have particularly complicated cancer experiences, such as adolescents and young adults, Indigenous peoples, those living in rural communities and patients with advanced cancers. These individuals require complex care, coordination and support on their cancer journey. Yet oncologists’ roles are often very scheduled, which doesn’t always permit for that extra time or navigation. So the program created a new navigation role to fill that gap, which has since grown to five navigation focus areas that support Albertans across the province.
Navigators — who are often specialized nurses — help spark conversations and coordinate care around specific needs, such as cultural barriers, travel and cost, symptom management and end-of-life care. In this extra layer of support, they can help ensure various patient needs are acknowledged and met.
A cohesive network
Another core service that offers support for Albertans with cancer is the Patient Financial Assistance Program. The program can support financial barriers such as travel costs from rural areas to Alberta’s larger cancer centres for treatment, or indirect expenses such as groceries or utility bills.
“We need quick, reliable access to resources to help those patients,” says Watson. “No Albertans should miss out on cancer treatment because they can’t afford to travel from their home to the specialist.”
Watson adds that “patients feel hopeful when they’ve had access to the supportive care programs. With support, they can believe it’s possible to make it through their cancer treatments.”
