Thursday, December 9, 2004

The Cancer Supportive Care Program at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre has received new funding from the Northern Cancer Research Foundation (NCRF) to undertake a unique research study conducted to improve patient and client care and treatment delivery.

Psychosocial oncology research has become a strong focus in Northwestern Ontario over the last few years. With one in three residents of the region expected to develop cancer at some point in their lives, extensive research and clinical trials are being carried out to determine the most effective methods of treatment and care delivery, and to explore ways of improving quality of life. “Our commitment to psychosocial research will enable us to offer tomorrow’s care today as well as to recruit and retain the brightest lights in Supportive Care, individuals who will ensure we are offering outstanding palliative care and emotional care services to our patients,” stated Michael Power, Vice President of Regional Cancer Services. “There is a need for unique research in the area which will help us provide different avenues and approaches to service delivery.”

Supportive Care has explored a number of different avenues of cancer research, including psychosocial distress, out of pocket costs for patients, access to services and quality of life, and the use of videoconferencing and internet-based technology to deliver psychosocial services to cancer patients in Northwestern Ontario.

The results from this newest research study will impact the scope and timing of services offered to patients and clients of Supportive Care. The study itself was initiated two years ago, to determine if both the expectations of the patient and client were being met and if the expectations were realistic. “This research is very important to the type of service that we offer in Supportive Care,” said Dr. Scott Sellick, Director of Supportive Care. “To our knowledge, no other cancer centre in Ontario is systematically and longitudinally assessing all clients to this degree. It is my hope that we can contribute to a Best Practice policy in the province to evaluate client satisfaction with services.”

Based on the resulting findings from the study, the researchers in Supportive Care will be building on the study to include additional markers that may impact the outcomes of their survey. Quality of life, nutrition, and psychosocial distress are further indicators that can impact the client needs assessment study. The NCRF has funded this next phase of the research study, which will further assess client satisfaction with Supportive Care, determine quality of life and psychosocial distress for Supportive Care clients in the months following treatment, examine variables around the new parameters and how they relate to client satisfaction, provide input to improve the quality of services offered to the clients of Supportive Care. Using a number of methodologies, Alan Edwardson, researcher and lead investigator on the Client Assessment Study, thinks that they will be able to map a more focused approach to the timing and type of service offered in Supportive Care across Northwestern Ontario. “With the funding from the NCRF, we can explore these new markers that we have long suspected were indicators to our findings,” he said. “There have been a numerous studies, like quality of life studies, that have been receiving increased attention over the last number of years, so as a burning issue, it’s important that we are able to explore those factors that obviously have a big impact on the needs of our patients.”

Since the late nineties, the Northern Cancer Research Foundation (NCRF) has provided substantial support to Supportive Care by funding education and research. This year’s grant is in excess of $34,000, to build on the strength of the findings to date. “It is through the generosity and support of the people of Northwestern Ontario that the NCRF is able to continue its strong commitment to cancer,” explained Kevin Holloway, Board Chair of the NCRF. “We feel that Supportive Care is an integral link in the cancer journey, and have funded numerous research projects that will positively impact the broad range of services offered to Supportive Care patients in the region.” 100% of the gifts to the NCRF remain in Northwestern Ontario to support leading cancer care in our region.