Cancer Rehabilitation in Primary Health Care

This study focuses on piloting a cancer rehabilitation program for cancer survivors (18-70 years of age), conducted in primary health care in a Norwegian municipality. In Norway, more than 70 % of all cancer patients will be long time survivors. However, research documents that cancer survivors are at increased risk for physical and psychosocial late effects with negative consequences for survival, long-time health and quality of life. Still, there is a huge gap between cancer survivors' documented late-effects and unmet needs and cancer rehabilitation interventions.

Background

Current cancer treatment is usually multimodal, hard and long-lasting, whereby many cancer patients experience physical and psychosocial late-effects and challenges. Some late-effects are life threatening, such as cancer relapse, new cancers, or development of chronical diseases. Other late effects influence the individual's health and quality of life negatively, as for example pain, lymphedema, gastrointestinal problems, memory, concentration and cognitive problems, neuropathies, anxiety and depression etc. In addition, cancer survivors report of social, economic and work related challenges. However, fatigue is the most distressing late-effect reported by cancer survivors, as it influences all areas of life, and is regarded as a strong and independent predictor for impaired quality of life.

Even if Norwegians' right to rehabilitation is assigned by law and cancer rehabilitation is a national focus area, cancer rehabilitation is not an integrated part of the cancer trajectory. Research indicate that healthcare providers have limited knowledge of cancer survivors' multidimensional challenges and effective elements in cancer rehabilitation. Consequently, cancer survivors experience lack of information about late-effects, inadequate follow-up and lack of understanding related to their physical and psychosocial challenges, as well as multidimensional rehabilitation interventions. Based on the law, cancer rehabilitation preferably should be conducted in municipalities nearby the patient's home. However, the few existing programs are criticized for being random, fragmented, not research based, only including single elements, and that survivors have to find such offers for themselves. This highlights the need to developed and pilot evidence based cancer rehabilitation programs - especially in primary health care.

Cancer rehabilitation is defined as processes that support cancer survivors to achieve maximal physical, psychological, social and work function within the frames created by cancer and cancer treatment. Consequently, cancer rehabilitation builds on a bio-psychosocial view of health and health promotion.