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HR leaders and corporate benefits managers must balance organizational costs with decisions about which new tools and treatments will be covered by their employee health insurance plans. Getting it right can mean the difference between life and death for cancer patients. Most HR leaders, however, are not experts in cancer treatment and do not know how to make sure their plan benefits do not create roadblocks to treatment.

A total of 295 people who were diagnosed with cancer from 2019 to 2022 participated in the 2023 CancerCare Biomarker Survey, which was conducted in January 2023.

CancerCare’s 2023 survey of cancer patients found that biomarker testing helped doctors tailor therapy for nearly all the patients (93%) whose cancers were tested over the past three years. Two in 10 cancer patients (20%) avoided unnecessary chemotherapy and/or radiation and one in 10 (10%) became eligible for a clinical trial because of biomarker testing.

Biomarker testing is a necessary tool in the advancing world of precision cancer treatment. Despite the significant and demonstrable benefits to surveyed patients, three out of 10 respondents (29%) who received biomarker testing did not have the test covered by their insurance. Some survey respondents reported that biomarker test coverage was originally denied and they had to fight to get it covered. Others had to find ways to pay out-of-pocket or seek financial assistance to cover the cost of the testing.

Unfortunately, health insurance plans often limit cancer patients’ access to recommended biomarker testing, impose burdensome prior authorization (PA) protocols or require unaffordable cost-sharing, which can prevent or delay cancer patients’ access to optimal treatments. PA, a significant source of roadblocks to timely testing and treatment, was required by a quarter (25%) of the cancer patients surveyed.

Biomarker testing is increasingly a health care equity issue and there are significant gaps in the rate of biomarker testing between black and white lung and colorectal cancer patients, which can lead to disparities in clinical trial participation and hinder access to the most effective treatments. A key way to address these barriers is to broaden insurance coverage of biomarker testing, as recommended by medical experts.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of cancer patients’ information behaviour on their decision-making at the diagnosis and treatment stages of their cancer journey. Patients’ information sources and their decision-making approaches were analyzed.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants.

The cancer patients sought information from various sources in choosing a hospital, physician, treatment method, diet and alternative therapy. Physicians were the primary information source. The patients’ approaches to treatment decision-making were diverse. An informed approach was adopted by nine patients, a paternalistic approach by four and a shared decision-making approach by only two.

In practice, the findings may assist hospitals and medical professionals in fostering pertinent interactions with patients.

The findings can enhance researcher understanding regarding the effect of cancer patients’ information behaviour on their decision-making.

This study aims to investigate into the future of cancer and cancer research in preparation for a strategic plan for a cancer research centre.

The study used framework foresight, a method for creating scenarios and their implications developed by the MS program in Foresight at the University of Houston.

The study identified four scenarios: a continuation scenario in which progress in detecting and treating cancer progressed as it has over the past few decades, a collapse scenario in which attention was diverted from medical research due to a climate crisis, a new equilibrium scenario in which cost became the overriding concern for cancer treatment, and a transformation scenario in which individuals took control of their treatment through Do-It-Yourself remedies. Those scenarios suggested four strategic issues for the planning exercise: the growing volume of genomic and clinical data and the means to learn from it, the increased involvement and influence of patients in diagnosis and treatment, the ability to conduct research in a time of fiscal austerity and declining levels of trust in all professions, including medicine.

The paper not only provides guidance for cancer centers but also for medical practice in general.

The client used the scenarios and their implications as part of its considerations in strategic planning.

This paper represents the first time that Framework Foresight has been applied to a medical topic.

This study aims at investigating the relationship between the quality of working life and career engagement of cancer survivors and the mediating role of the effect of disease and treatment.

A cross-sectional study was conducted on 400 cancer survivors in Malaysia. The participants, aged between 18 and 40, were Malaysian citizens undergoing follow-up sessions at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital and the National Cancer Institute of Malaysia. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and regression analysis that implemented Baron and Kenny’s method for mediation were used for analyses.

The effect of treatment and disease was found to significantly mediate the relationship between quality of work-life and career engagement of cancer survivors.

The instrument for this study was a self-reported questionnaire, with participants responding to specific items on a five-point Likert scale under the supervision of the researchers. As results from the survey were subjective in nature, the bias in the participants could not be eliminated completely. This study was also limited to the two main parameters, namely, quality of working life and career engagement and a mediator, namely, effects of the disease and treatment. Moreover, as the survey was conducted in only two hospitals in the Klang Valley area, the results cannot be generalized to other cancer survivors in other regions of Malaysia.

The results of this study indicated that the mediating role of the effects of disease and treatment on the relationship of the quality of working life subscales with career engagement. Practical implications, cancer survivor consciousness of the effects of disease and treatment is very important and should be addressed and could be notable to improve the quality of working life.

This study gives valuable insight to managers and practitioners by investigating the relationship between the quality of working life and career engagement and mediates by the effects of disease and treatment. The findings highlight the challenges cancer survivors face on their return to working life. The findings also highlight the need for management to take steps to help cancer survivors cope with career engagement for better work performance.

This brief chapter explores my experiences with music and death throughout my cancer treatment. Though I constantly confronted my mortality throughout my cancer treatment, music also helped to distract me from unpleasant, lengthy or boring treatments, as well as helping me to process my feelings about my own mortality. It thus served two distinct purposes, both focusing my mind on death and pain and distancing me from it.

The aims of this paper are to: briefly review the long‐term or late effects of cancer diagnosis and treatment on children and youth; examine the implications of these effects on the educational needs of the child or youth; explore the implications of childhood cancer survivorship on the school, particularly for female students. Over the last 25 years, treatments for childhood cancers have increased survival rates by 45 per cent, to nearly 77 per cent. It is estimated that one in 900 people aged 15‐44 years in the USA is a childhood cancer survivor; 80 per cent of children diagnosed with cancer in 1990 will survive into adulthood.

A comprehensive literature review of studies relevant to female childhood cancer survivorship and education over the past ten years was conducted, having been collected through searches of MEDLINE, CINAHL, PSYCINFO, and EMBASE.

Long‐term and late effects of cancer have been observed in neurocognition, cardiopulmonary symptoms, second cancers, reproductive organs, and hearing loss. Other health effects, such as impaired growth, osteopenia, hepatitis C infection, oral and dental malformations, and behavioral risk factors such as fatigue, obesity, and smoking have also been reported among childhood cancer survivors. These longer‐term treatment sequelae, particularly on neurological systems, have implications for changed student educational needs, including the provision of specialized instruction, classroom adaptations, as well as ancillary health services.

Based on the ecologic model, a research agenda is proposed for better integrating the increasing numbers of childhood cancer survivors into the educational environment.

Practical interventions for survivors who are experiencing difficulties in school are listed.

To the best of one's knowledge, this is the first comprehensive review on the implications of childhood cancer survivors in schools.

During recent years, web technologies and mass media have become prevalent in the context of medicine and health. Two examples of important web technologies used in health are news media and patient forums. Both have a significant role in shaping patients' perspective and behaviour in relation to health and illness, as well as the way that they might choose or change their treatment. In this paper, the authors investigated the application of web technologies using the data analysis approach. The authors did this analysis from the point of view of topics being discussed and disseminated via patients and journalists in breast and lung cancer. The study also investigated the (dis)alignment amongst these two groups and scientists in terms of topics.

Three data sets comprised documents published between 2014 and 2018 obtained from ProQuest and Web of Science Medline databases, alongside data from three major patient forums on breast and lung cancer. The analysis and visualisation in this paper have been done using the udpipe, igraph R packages and VOSviewer.

The study’s findings showed that in general scientists focussed more on prognosis and treatment of cancer, whereas patients and journalists focussed more on detection, prevention and role of social and emotional support. The only exception was for news coverage of lung cancer where the largest cluster was related to treatment, research in cancer treatment and therapies. However, when comparing coverage by scientists and journalists in terms of treatment, the focus of news articles in both cancer types was mainly on chemotherapy and complimentary therapies. Finally, topics such as lifestyle or pain management were only discussed by breast cancer patients.

The results obtained from this study may provide valuable insights into topics of interest for each group of scientists, journalist and patients as well as (dis)alignment among them in terms of topics. These findings are important as scientific research is heavily dependent on communication, and research does not exist in a bubble. Scientists and journalists can gain insights from patients' experiences and needs, which in turn may help them to have a more holistic and realistic view.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2020-0228

The purpose of this paper was to understand the lived experiences of women who have been diagnosed, treated and are cancer free as survivors.

Using purposive sampling approach, participants were recruited from two Missouri cancer centers. A total of 15 breast cancer free women (ten white and five black) were interviewed. The participants ranged in age from 34 to 62 years, and all had at least a bachelor degree.

Eight unique themes were identified from the interviews. The women noted that maintaining positive attitude, and support from family and friends were the greatest resources that helped them through their cancer journey. They were generally positive about their experiences but uncertain what “survivor” meant individually and personally.

All the women in this study had at least a college degree, stable family economic resources and health insurance.

The women interviewed in this study did not want to be called breast cancer “survivors” which is a common name for anyone who has been diagnosed, treated and cancer free. For those who are breast cancer educators, nurses, medical practitioners and counselors it is important to consider how they use the word “survivor.” Referring to women who have successfully completed a treatment program for breast cancer as “survivors” attaches an identity that may not be accepted by all.

This chapter focuses on the differences that younger, middle-aged, and older women with breast cancer experience, particularly in health knowledge and treatment. These differential experiences, in part, stem from our youth oriented culture. This ideology extends into medicine and can affect day-to-day medical practice. Differential experiences are, therefore, likely to result in inequality and disparity in health and in healthcare. It is argued that older women are less empowered than their younger counterparts to display the same degree of agency. This analysis has important implications for health care professionals in the treatment of older women with breast cancer.

Health care organizational research should pay greater attention to the specific settings where health is practiced. An ethnographic account of humor, ritual and defiance is presented from 29 months spent in a private, concierge-type radiation oncology center. A thick description of the setting and interaction among center staff and patients is offered in an attempt to establish why qualitative research of health care settings is so important. Findings are compared to Ellingson’s work on health care setting. Humor, ritual and defiance have therapeutic value and deserve greater attention in cancer treatment centers and health care organizations more broadly. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

An ethnographic account of humor, ritual and defiance is presented from 29 months spent in a private, concierge-type radiation oncology center through thick description.

This study reinforces the literature on the value of institutionalizing humor and ritual to improve patients’ experience in cancer care given the dominance of large public institutions, most easily accessed by academic researchers. Suncoast Coast Radiation Center’s “institutionalized humor” is an important finding that should be examine further. Scholarship can also illuminate the use of ritual in settings where health care is practiced.

This study is limited to a particular research setting which is a private, concierge care radiation oncology treatment center in the Southeastern USA.

Cancer care centers should consider carefully institutionalizing humor and ritual into their daily practices. Further, patient defiance should be reinterpreted not as a patient deficiency but as a therapeutic coping mechanism by patients.

While nearly half of cancer care in the USA is offered in private, for-profit institutions, the vast majority of the understanding of cancer care comes only from non-profit and government-run institutions. Shining a light of these neglected cancer care settings will add to the understanding and the ability to improve the care offered to patients.

This is the first health ethnography in a concierge care, cancer care treatment setting. It tests the proposition that humor, ritual and defiance play an important role in a private concierge cancer care organization.