Oral Presentation Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

Improving Equity in Access to Cancer Treatment  (#99)

Danielle Rodin 1
  1. Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, ONTARIO, Canada

Disparities in access to cancer treatment continue to be a critical public health and health equity issue. Patients from racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority groups as well as other marginalized populations such as older adults and those living in rural communities continue to face disproportionate barriers to receiving timely, high-quality, and patient-centered care. These disparities are driven by the interdependency of factors operating at the level of the patient, provider, community, and regional, national, and international policies and priorities. A multilevel framework is therefore critical to identifying potentially modifiable barriers to care as well as levers for coordinated intervention. This session will discuss key actionable opportunities for the oncology community to improve equity in access, patient experience, satisfaction with care, and ultimately, patient outcomes. Interventions that focus on mitigating implicit bias amongst care providers, improving workforce representation, leveraging novel care delivery models, and supporting evidence-based advocacy will be discussed.