WP-6 on Indicators on cancer rehabilitation

WP-6 is led by Piret Veerus (National Institute for Health Development, Estonia).

The needs of cancer survivors are an emerging aspect of cancer control. The list of indicators produced by EUROCHIP-1 did not include indicators for cancer rehabilitation. However, it is expected that the need for rehabilitation services for cancer patients will increase as mortality for several cancers tends to decline. WP-6 will therefore be concerned with defining a list of indicators on cancer rehabilitation in collaboration with patient associations.

The discussion is based on these notes:

Included indicators must be at population level
Included indicators do not necessarily have to be already available
Included indicators can be can be a proxy
Included indicators can be subdivided in high and low priority
It is important to discuss of common sources across Europe and on the efforts necessary for collection
At the end of the project the list must be concise (5-6)
Final list includes:

Burden of cancer rehabilitation needs

cancer prevalence (total and by time since diagnosis)
cured and qualified prevalence
Indicators measuring the success of rehabilitation

rate of return to work for cancer patients
quality of life of cancer patients (in comparison with general population) using EORTC questionnaire or other international questionnaires
presence of rehabilitation needs and their satisfaction:
o speech & language therapy for head and neck cancer patients
o physiotherapy for breast cancer patients
o dietician therapy for colorectal cancer patients
o psychological support for all cancer patients

For WP-6 indicator description , click here