Breaking down barriers to care for metastatic breast cancer patients

Drawing on a series of studies and interviews with patients and caregivers, UCLA researchers from theUCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have published recommendations for California policymakers and patient advocates aimed at improving care and outcomes for women with metastatic breast cancer.More than 30,000women in California are diagnosed each year with this cancer, which has spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Survival rates are low, and patients often face significant hurdles to care — particularly in the areas of health insurance, clinical trials and palliative care — that could be remedied through policy changes, the researchers say.“Battling metastatic cancer is difficult enough for any person, and we should be breaking down the barriers that stand in the way of providing the best care possible,” said lead authorAJ Scheitler, director of stakeholder relations at the health policy research center. “Our workaims toofferstate-level policy solutions that should be further explored. ”These potential solutions emerged, in large part, from the researchers ’ 2020 study of barriers to care, which was presented to the California Breast Cancer Research Program and incorporated insights from interviews with a broad range of patients, health care providers and other stakeholders, as well as from patients’social media discussions. The interview responses and narrative data led to the discovery of ...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news