Abstract
This study aimed to examine the awareness and status of cancer patients and healthcare providers (physicians, nurses and social workers) regarding community linkage, in order to establish a desirable care plan model in a future research project. The survey was conducted via two methods: face-to-face for cancer patients (n = 308) and oncology physicians (n = 210), and due to COVID-19 circumstances, online for nurses (n = 200) and social workers (n = 313). As a result, more than 95% of the healthcare providers responded that cancer patients required community-linked services and discharge plans, whereas 50.7% and 79.2% of cancer patients noted the importance of community-linked services and discharge plans, respectively. Social workers, among healthcare providers, showed the most positive experience about connecting patients to community services since 69.7% of them responded as “excellent”. However, as a group, cancer patients considered the necessity of community-linked service as less important, as only 50.7% responded as agreeing it was necessary. The barriers to community linkage were the lack of communication among the different professions of healthcare providers, and the ambiguity in their roles. The findings of this study will inform future community-linked health research, policies and systems for cancer patients. In particular, an in-depth interview with cancer patients will be required to explore their lack of acknowledgment about the necessity of community-linked services. Therefore, this study is expected to contribute to the improvement and supplementation of cancer policies.
Highlights
The relative survival rate of cancer patients continues to increase due to the expansion of early cancer screening and the improvement of medical technology
There were more male than female oncology physicians (61% vs. 39%), and the majority of the oncology physicians (n = 91, 43.3%) were aged below 40 years [Table 1]
Most social workers worked in a social welfare facility (n = 135, 43.1%), followed by those who worked in a secondary hospital (n = 114, 36.4%)
Summary
The relative survival rate of cancer patients continues to increase due to the expansion of early cancer screening and the improvement of medical technology. In Korea, the relative survival rate of cancer patients between 2013 and 2017 was 70.4%, representing an increase of 27.5% between 1993 and 1995 [1]. In the United States, the 2005 report by the National Academies Press revealed that improved survival rates raised the number of cancer survivors [2]. As of 2016, the United States had about 15 million cancer survivors, most of whom survived more than five years after treatment, and half were older than 70 years [3]. The preceding studies noted the importance of community-linked integrated
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