Living with Cancer in the time of COVID-19

Summary

In the COVID-19 (C19) pandemic, social and media news have popularized the refrain that “we’re all in this together” as encouragement for coming out of this stronger through our united efforts. But who is this “we”? While C19 continues to have an unprecedented global impact, the health risks, burdens and outcomes are not the same for everyone. Cancer patients are one example of a vulnerable population where the impact of the pandemic deserves scrutiny.

The overarching aim of this project is to examine the impact of the C19 pandemic on the experience of Canadian cancer patients at all stages of treatment, focussing on self-reported emotional, social and physical symptoms; quality of life; changes in cancer care; satisfaction with care; and use of a variety of positive and negative coping strategies. We will also look at the unique challenges and potential benefits of these changes in care during C19. We will do this by conducting a series of online surveys over a 12-month period asking cancer patients and survivors about their experiences, including people currently receiving cancer treatment and up to 10 years after treatment. Participants will provide consent and complete 30-minute online surveys on 5 occasions: baseline, 2, 4, 6 and 12 months. We will also conduct interviews with cancer patients, survivors and their caregivers to better understand their experiences during the pandemic and how they have coped and adjusted to changes to their care.

Given the potential for C19 to impact the well-being of people living with and being treated for cancer, it is imperative to understand their experience amid this rapidly-changing and fluid healthcare environment. By conducting this research, we will better understand the nature of challenges encountered by cancer patients and uncover potential solutions, and hence develop appropriate supports that can be implemented and evaluated in future emergency planning and research to better serve this population.