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The Article in Brief
Family Physician Involvement in Cancer Care Follow-Up: The Experience of a Cohort of Patients With Lung Cancer
Mich�le Aubin , and colleagues
Background Cancer patients often experience fragmented care, as they consult a variety of health professionals in multiple settings. This study of 395 patients with lung cancer in the province of Quebec, Canada, describes the expected and actual roles of family physicians during different phases of cancer care and follow-up.
What This Study Found Fewer than one-half of patients reported a high degree of family physician involvement in most aspects of cancer care throughout the cancer care trajectory. A majority of patients (more than 90 percent) identified the oncology team or oncologists as mainly responsible for their cancer care, except in the advanced/terminal phase, where a majority (70 percent) attributed this role to their family physician. Immediately following diagnosis, only 15 percent of patients perceived a shared care pattern between their family physician and oncologists, but this proportion increased with cancer progression. Most patients would have liked their family physician to be more involved in all aspects of cancer care.
Implications
- The authors call for better communication and collaboration between family physicians and the oncology team to facilitate shared care in cancer follow-up.