What role can you play in reducing wait times and addressing barriers to early detection?
Key findings you should know:
Empowering Patients Through Education
Educating individuals about self-examinations and cancer symptoms (like DetecTogether does!) empowers people to seek timely medical consultations, significantly aiding early diagnosis efforts.
This longstanding truth is why we founded our nonprofit and remain committed—because the work is far from over!
Organizational and Patient Engagement and Advocacy
Collaboration with patient advocacy organizations (like DetecTogether 😉!) is essential for integrating patient perspectives into early cancer detection technologies like multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests to improve technologies, access the benefits, and improve outcomes. Patients’ needs and preferences can influence the development, planning, and implementation of new healthcare technologies (Schear et al., 2022).
Your Role in Reducing Wait Times
Advocacy by patients and families can expedite cancer diagnosis and treatment. Patients should leverage insider information from healthcare professionals to navigate the system more effectively (Mathews et al., 2017).
Advocacy Barriers for Women
Advocacy for women’s cancers faces challenges like limited collaboration with medical communities, societal stigma, and funding issues. Dialogue between survivors and clinicians should improve to advance patient advocacy for women (Antone et al., 2018).
Conclusion
Patients are pivotal in early cancer detection and advocacy. By partnering with DetecTogether, leveraging our 3 Steps Detect® tools, and improving how patients navigate healthcare, we can improve early diagnosis and access to timely care together. Integrating more patient perspectives into healthcare systems can enhance outcomes and promote greater equity in cancer care.
References
- Antone, N., Kizub, D., Gralow, J., Zujewski, J., & Dvaladze, A. (2018). Identifying Facilitators
and Barriers to Patient Advocacy for Women’s Cancers: Findings from Eastern Europe/Central Asia WE CAN Summits. Journal of Global Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1200/JGO.18.10010.
- Blei, H., L’esperance, E., Strang, K., & Letin, T. (1936). THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF
CANCER. Medical Journal of Australia, 2. https://doi.org/10.5694/j.1326-5377.1936.tb91798.x.
