The utilization of allied and community health services by cancer patients living in regional and remote geographical ar
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The utilization of allied and community health services by cancer patients living in regional and remote geographical areas in Australia Darshit Rajeshkumar Parikh 1 & Abbey Diaz 2 & Christina Bernardes 3 Giam Kar 6 & Matthew Stevens 2 & Gail Garvey 2,7
&
Paolo B De Ieso 4
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Thanuja Thachil 5
&
Received: 11 June 2020 / Accepted: 16 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Introduction Cancer patients in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) face unique challenges to accessing cancer-related community and allied health services (referred here as ‘health services’). This is in part due to the NT’s unique geographic, socioeconomic and demographic profile. This paper describes the use of health services by cancer patients in the NT. Methods Adult cancer patients attending appointments at a cancer centre in Darwin, NT and who were diagnosed within the past five years were invited to participate in face-to-face interviews about their use of allied and community health services. A descriptive analysis of health services utilization was conducted. Results Of the 76 participants interviewed, 63% identified as non-Indigenous, 53% female and 45% lived in very remote areas. Mean age at interview was 58.7 years (SD 13.2). Overall, 82% of participants utilized at least one health service since their cancer diagnosis. All Indigenous participants used at least one service, while 28% of non-Indigenous participants did not use any health service. The services most frequently used by participants were community services (42%) and information sources (40%). Conclusion The findings from this study suggest there is variation in the type of community and allied health services used by NT cancer patients across clinical and demographic groups (including Indigenous status). Further qualitative enquiry is needed to better understand this variation, which may reflect differences in service preference, accessibility, health literacy of patients or patient engagement. Such knowledge may inform service delivery improvements to better support cancer patients through their cancer care pathway. Keywords Health service use . Cancer . Remote . Indigenous . Australia
Introduction Cancer is a leading cause of death in Australia, with almost 50,000 cancer deaths reported annually [1]. While advancements have been made to improve the survival and survivorship of Australians living with cancer, these improvements have not been equally distributed. People living in regional and remote areas experience poorer cancer outcomes than
* Gail Garvey [email protected]
those living in urban areas [2], particularly for those diagnosed with cancers of the liver, lung, cervix and unknown primary site [3]. This may partially explain the elevated agestandardized cancer mortality rate in Australia’s Northern Territory (NT) [3]. The NT is located in central and central-northern Australia. Compared to the other Australian states and territories, the NT is the least populous (247,327 persons) and
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