Focus Groups for Cancer Patients

Cancer Care Nova Scotia is asking patients how it can improve the care system. It's holding the first in a series of Cancer Patient Navigation focus groups today in Yarmouth.

People who have experienced cancer as patients, family members or caregivers will come together to tell about their journey through the cancer care system. They will give advice on how patients and families can be better supported at the time of diagnosis, throughout treatment and afterward.

"One of the main concerns of Cancer Care Nova Scotia is to make the system more patient-focused," said Dr. Andrew Padmos, commissioner of Cancer Care Nova Scotia. "Talking to patients themselves is probably the best way to get the kind of information we need to properly take care of cancer patients. We're looking for both the good stories, and the bad."

Focus groups will be conducted throughout the province over the next six weeks. Physicians and other health care professionals will also be interviewed for their advice. Based on that information, the Cancer Care Nova Scotia board will decide what concrete actions can be taken to improve the system.

Cancer Care Nova Scotia is also holding its bimonthly board meeting in Yarmouth today. One of the key issues for discussion is a work-in-progress plan for delivering more cancer care in communities across the province.

Cancer Care Nova Scotia has a mandate to co-ordinate, strengthen and evaluate services in Nova Scotia through integrated research, education, and treatment programs that are patient-centred, cost effective and based on sound evidence.