Our Research
In May 2020, All.Can Canada commissioned research to obtain an in-depth understanding of the current state of cancer diagnosis in Canada. The impetus for the research grew out of an inaugural multi-stakeholder roundtable meeting in November 2019 convened by Save Your Skin Foundation (SYSF) and which was intended to draw upon prior research to orientate the mission and work of All.Can Canada. Participants at the meeting were patients, patient group representatives, health care professionals, former health technology assessment professionals, industry representatives, and researchers from across Canada. The roundtable meeting built consensus on a priority area of focus plus next steps, and agreed to a preliminary governance approach for All.Can Canada through the establishment of a multi-stakeholder interim steering committee, supported by the Secretariat.
The group achieved consensus on a preliminary area of focus to be: Optimizing patient entry into Canadian cancer care systems, ensuring swift, accurate, and appropriately delivered diagnosis.
As a first step, it was decided that a rigorously conducted environmental scan should be conducted to assess the current state in achieving this goal across Canada. This research was conducted from June 2020 to March 2021.
Objectives
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To assess the current state of cancer care systems in Canada to ensure swift, accurate and appropriately delivered diagnosis as the entry point to the cancer care system
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To identify outcomes that matter most to different cancer populations, including performance indicators to assess success, to benchmark and to compare across cancer populations and Canadian jurisdictions
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To identify promising, good and best practices in cancer care diagnosis that could be adapted, spread and scaled
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To understand what works well, enablers, issues, barriers and gaps against identified outcomes
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To identify specific areas of inefficiency that represent opportunities for improvement towards achieving identified outcomes
What We Learned
We recognize that the patient experience is an important dimension of quality care. In keeping with a person-centred approach to cancer care, the findings from this research are structured around what matters most to people as they navigate complex cancer diagnosis systems. We wanted the patient’s voice to be heard as an individual with an identity that goes beyond being just a cancer patient. Our intent is to emphasize that this person-centred lens should guide all efforts to improve diagnosis processes in Canada.
Desired Outcomes
Across all phases of the diagnosis journey, from the earliest point at which an individual first tries to contact or interacts with a health care provider over a suspicion of cancer to the time a confirmed diagnosis is made, seven outcomes were voiced by people as being critical to the quality of the diagnosis experience:
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Swiftness of the diagnosis process
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Validation of concerns by primary care providers
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Excellent patient-provider communication
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Effective provider-provider communication
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Better information
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Integrated psychosocial support
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Coordinated and managed care
Attainment of these outcomes resulted in a more satisfactory diagnosis experience, while failing to attain any one of these outcomes had a negative, and oftentimes detrimental, impact.
Led by patient groups and those with lived cancer experience, All.Can Canada is a national platform focused on improving cancer diagnosis. It aims to streamline access to timely, accurate, and appropriately delivered diagnoses. All.Can Canada engages government stakeholders, health authorities, healthcare providers, and patient organizations to share key findings and resources with the diagnosis ecosystem to improve patient outcomes.