Stephanie and I travelled to Quebec City from October 26th to 29th to attend the 26th Annual Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO) conference. The theme of this year’s conference was Patient Engagement and given that patients are at the heart of all that we do and that oncology nurses are critical stakeholders in delivering patient-centric cancer care, we felt this this would be a good fit and excellent learning opportunity for us.
With over 600 oncology nurses from across the country in attendance at CANO, it was clear that they are very eager to share with and learn from one another. We noticed that regardless of the topic of the many symposia that were offered, attendance was always virtually at capacity, even in the early morning hours, indicating that even if the disease area did not directly apply to a given nurse’s practice, their commitment and willingness to learn was certainly present.
There are a number of nurses that a patient may encounter in their oncology journey. Their role is not limited to delivering care to patients during treatment – they also provide information and educate patients and their families and are the key contact person to answer questions as they arise. Nurses often use educational tools with their patients to help explain treatments, procedures, after-treatment care as well as direct patients to other sources of support. These tools may include information leaflets that are either disease-specific or treatment-specific, dosing diaries, symptom trackers, medication wallet cards, dosing reminders and the like. As a result of nurses being at the frontline in working with and advocating for patients, they are invaluable in identifying the unmet needs of patients. Listening to a nurse’s perspective can provide an opportunity for both pharmaceutical companies and patient associations to support nurses and patients but creating tools and resources that fill these gaps.
One striking example of a gap in patient information arose from a presentation by Julie Diemert from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Sunnybrook has launched a pilot program for treating inoperable liver metastases in colorectal cancer patients using a hepatic artery infusion pump (HAIP), which was pioneered at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. While the technology to offer innovative treatment options to patients is advancing at an impressive pace, the support materials for patients is lagging behind and thereby leaving patients with unanswered questions about what to expect from this procedure and their treatment. We heard during this presentation that patients want to know about what comes next and that information is empowering but the nurses don’t always have the tools to deliver that information.
At the Clinical Lectureship Award Presentation, Krista Wilkins from the University of New Brunswick delivered a very insightful and thought-provoking presentation entitled “Unwanted Encore” The Lived Experiences of Having Multiple Cancer Diagnoses”. Her research, though in the preliminary stages, is revealing the unique experiences and needs of individuals who have had more than on primary cancer. This knowledge is important for healthcare professionals who support these patients and will help them develop and deliver survivorship programs that are of true value to the patients they are intended for.
Further, we witnessed the successful launch of Life Beyond Lymphoma, an online portal by our client, Lymphoma Canada. Life Beyond Lymphoma is a unique interactive portal created for patients with lymphoma who are in the off-treatment phase of their journey. The FUSE Health team proudly worked on the content for this portal and the related tools for HCPs and patients to use in conjunction with this portal.
Life Beyond Lymphoma adds a valuable new tool to Lymphoma Canada’s arsenal of support for patients across Canada with lymphoma who have either completed treatment or are waiting to receive treatment. Lymphoma Canada understands that patients in the treatment-free phase of their journey may feel somewhat lost by not being under the careful watchful eye of their healthcare team as they transition into a “new normal”. This portal demonstrates Lymphoma Canada’s commitment to supporting patients along the entire spectrum of their journey from diagnosis to treatment through to survivorship. As a steady stream of nurses stopped by the booth for the four-day duration of the conference, it was very rewarding to witness their reactions as they learned about Life Beyond Lymphoma. It was evident that this portal would be of great value to them and their patients.
If you are part of a pharma brand team, a patient association or an advocacy group, and you are interested in exploring how you can support nurses in advancing the management of patients with cancer, give us a call – we’d be very happy to share our insights with you.
Diana Stempak
Director, Medical Communications
Our clients Tanja Loeb and Tracey-Ann Curtis from Lymphoma Canada at their booth at CANO.