Patient-centered cancer care

Image: @CarolynTaylor

Patient-centered care is an essential component of a functional health system and a key vehicle to achieve equitable access to quality healthcare, including universal healthcare (UHC), at all resource levels. Patient-centered healthcare systems respect the experience, values, needs, and preferences of people with cancer in the planning, coordination, and delivery of care.

Though necessary, patient-centered cancer care has not been well-integrated into quality-improvement programs. While some policies emphasize the value of patient views, few have effectivelly implemented patient-centeredness across the cancer continuum.

A collaboration between Global Focus on Cancer and City Cancer Challenge Foundation aims to define the core elements of patient-centered care, and analyze a valid set of patient-centered indicators for settings with limited resources, as first steps towards incorporating measures of patient-centricity in City Cancer Challenge (C/Can) cities. Dr Cabanes leads these patient-centered efforts.