Overcoming Challenges of Holistic Cancer Care in Low-Resource Settings

Background and context: Live does not remain the same after receiving the news of cancer in a family. Most people face some degree of depression, anxiety, fear or distress when cancer becomes part of their lives. The disruptive effect of cancer on family happiness is worsen by high cost of care, this is particularly relevant in low resource settings where health poverty is prevalent and most healthcare expenses are out of pocket. My family never remained the same from the point we received the diagnosis of colon cancer in my late husband. While I derive satisfaction in the knowledge that we fought the disease with everything we had up until the time of his death, I am however certain that the attendant stress would have been significantly lessened had healthcare providers availed us with all the necessary information required for us to cope with the condition. Consequently, Niola Cancer Care Foundation was conceptualized to bridge the identify gaps. Aim: To support healthcare providers in providing holistic care to cancer patients in low resource settings. Strategy/Tactics: Drawing largely from the experience and knowledge acquired during the care and management of my late husband and subsequent requests from careers of cancer patients for guidance, we conceptualized Cancer Assistance Network (CAN) with the aim of providing support to cancer patients and the carer to ease their challenges in accessing care in Nigeria. Program/Policy process: Cancer patients and their carers are recruited into the Cancer Assistance Network either through our routine hospital visits or by client-initiated contact. To facilitate individualization of support to suite individual patient's needs and requirements, the client requesting assistance is required to answer specific questions relating to the disease condition, treatment received so far and area of assistance required from Niola Cancer Care Foundation. Based on agreed criteria, the level of support that can be rendered is discussed. The support is categorized into 3 broad headings; financial, informational and emotional support. Outcomes: Finance is the primary reasons why most patients or their carer seek support from Niola Cancer Care Foundation. Unfortunately, most times we are not able to meet their financial requirements leading to initiation disappointment. We are however able to restore hope and confidence as we provide informational and emotional support. What was learned: Healthcare professionals for whatever reasons seems not to be comfortable discussing holistic cancer care with patients particularly those with advanced state requiring palliative care. Consequently, there is a disconnect between patients and healthcare professional's expectation of outcome. We are working with healthcare professionals to better understand factors responsible for poor communication of expected outcome between them and the patients.