P.E.I. cancer patients need help with system: survey
Help navigating the medical system and paying for expensive drugs are the two biggest needs of cancer patients on P.E.I., says a new survey.
'We want to ensure that patients are not making a choice between treatment and leaving their family destitute.' — Dawn Binns, Canadian Cancer Society
The P.E.I. branch of the Canadian Cancer Society interviewed 139 cancer patients in 2004 and 2005 for the survey, which was released Monday. It was the first survey of its kind since the 1980s.
"When a person is diagnosed with cancer, they should have one fight on their hands. They should be thinking about the fight against cancer," said branch executive director Dawn Binns.
"They should not be thinking about how to cover the cost of those treatments. How do I navigate the system to find the coverage I need to get the treatments for my cancer?"
Most of the patients interviewed were older than 50 and had private health insurance. Still, a quarter of them said they needed extra help paying for drugs for their treatment, and only a quarter of those that needed help got it.
"The drugs are very expensive to treat cancer," said cancer patient Carol Root.
"I was on— and I do have a drug plan— and I was on one drug that cost $300 a week and of course even on a drug plan you have to pay that up front."
In order to address issues of providing necessary information, and dealing with the emotional impact of cancer, the society wants government to hire a cancer navigator, someone specifically to help patients find the information and services they need.
Calls for a review of the government drug planand for help finding the way through the medical systemare notnew.
Binns said the group has been asking for a cancer navigator position since 2004. Her group will be distributing more information kits, but the province can do more, too.
"We want to ensure that patients are not making a choice between treatment and leaving their family destitute," she said, "that patients are not spending their energy, when they are at their most vulnerable, trying to find funding for treatments that their physician said could help them."
The survey was not random, and the society admits there are a lot of cancer patients out there whose experiences it hasn't accounted for.
The provincial government recently added two new cancer drugs to its provincial program, but it doesn't plan to do a wholesale review of what drugs it covers. Deputy health minister David Riley did say the department was willing to look at creating a cancer navigator position.
There are about 790 new cases of cancer diagnosed on P.E.I. each year.