New global care standards to help those living with advanced cancer
Caregiver holding hands with patient. Image: Adobe Stock by Natee Meepian.
In the past, advanced or metastatic cancers were rapidly fatal, however with new treatments people with these cancers can now survive for a long time, sometimes many years. They have unique and complex care needs but because they usually can’t be cured, and do not yet need palliative care, they can often be overlooked.
An international consortium, led by Associate Professor Nicolas Hart (lead author) from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Professor Raymond Chan (senior author) from Flinders University, has published a set of clinical practice standards and recommendations aimed at providing optimal care for these individuals and their caregivers.
The initiative is backed by the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). It provides a critical resource to healthcare stakeholders to facilitate tailored and effective care across disciplines and settings.
Translated into more than 10 languages, the standards and practice recommendations are targeted at a wide array of audiences within cancer care, including healthcare professionals, administrators, governments, policymakers, and, most importantly, cancer survivors and their caregivers.
“People living with advanced and metastatic cancer have limited treatment options, a typically poor prognosis, and high healthcare needs leading to a more intense and frequent use of healthcare services. However, they are typically under-served and under-resourced, and can feel their needs are neglected,” said Associate Professor Hart.
Cancer survivors, and their caregivers, can now consult a set of standards and recommendations to see what ‘quality survivorship care’ looks like.
You can read the full article here: New global care standards to help those living with advanced cancer.
