Study Indicates Vital Role of Self-Advocacy for Rural Patients Receiving Cancer Treatment

In “Seeking Precision Healthcare in Rural Patients with Cancer: Learning Self-Advocacy,” the researchers conducted 15 in-depth interviews with rural cancer patients. The participants reported that advocating for themselves was critical for receiving proper care in rural areas. Interviewees resided in counties located in New York’s Southern Tier, part of the Northern subregion of Appalachia.

Curtin, the study’s lead author, emphasized how the qualitative methodological design of the study centered patient perspectives, giving participants a chance to share their stories.

“I was humbled by how willing the participants were to share their experiences with me,” Curtin said.

Their research focused on precision health care, a concept coined in 2009 that considers environmental, social, genetic and personal factors in developing individualized patient treatment plans. Precision medicine approaches to cancer treatment have proven superior and are desired for reducing health inequities. The study underlines how geographic location remains a key social determinant of health and driver of patient outcomes.

“The participants all had a type of cancer that could be treated by targeted therapy,” Dickerson said. She explained that rural patients experienced “care fragmentation and a lack of resources” as compared to urban patients who have access to targeted therapies.

The study’s primary finding was that rural patients often had to rely on self-advocacy for their care. Noted obstacles to care included significant travel to access specialized services, providers struggling to properly coordinate care, and delays in diagnosis.

“This study highlights how individuals had to become self-advocates to address their questions, manage symptoms, and get the cancer care they needed, especially in rural areas,” Somayaji said.

Curtin emphasized that a key takeaway is the need for broader advocacy efforts at the systemic level to address health care inequities related to access in rural communities.

By SHANNON O'SULLIVAN