Assessing person-centered care readiness at a cancer system level through a provincial environmental scan in Ontario.

Abstract

70 Background: Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) is an Ontario government agency which drives quality and improvement for the Ontario cancer system. Person-Centred Care (PCC) has been an identified goal both from the recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) report and as a corporate strategic priority at CCO. CCO is assessing the degree of PCC practiced in Ontario’s Cancer system to design interventions to improve this aspect of care delivery and design. Currently no established or validated indicators for PCC have been tested and evaluation methodology of PCC is unclear. A baseline of the system’s focus on PCC is required to establish a provincial plan to drive quality improvement. Methods: A series of 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted at Ontario’s regional cancer centers (RCCs) to determine the degree of development of a PCC culture in Ontario’s cancer system. Interviews were conducted with all 14 Regional Cancer Programs (RCPs) including: - 10 Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs); and - 56 RCPs and hospital leaders (Directors, Managers, Physicians, Nursing, Psychosocial Oncology providers). Sixty-six participants (direct interviews/questionnaires) were interviewed; questionnaires were received from 28 organizations (hospitals/RCCs). Results: Although 86% of interviewed organizations reported having a PCC corporate strategy, 41% of hospitals and 73% of RCCs do not have dedicated staff to support the strategy. 53% of organizations work with a Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) and only 43% engage PFAs in decision-making tables with 94% of RCPs expressing a need for guidance on PFA engagement. Key facilitators to promote PCC are: strong and committed leadership and continuous staff engagement/education. Primary barriers include: equity in PFA recruitment, cultural resistance to PCC, and lack of evaluation frameworks. Conclusions: Advancing PCC requires strong provincial direction, training to foster PFA engagement, and measurement and accountability frameworks for cultural change. Clear definitions on accountabilities for PCC roles and expectations for PFAs and staff are also key to supporting PCC regionally.