title: An interdisciplinary approach to the provision of patient support resources across the oncology care continuum: description of a performance improvement project.
abstract: Cancer survival has improved, and more attention is now being focused on quality of life. Quality-of-life issues include the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and financial aspects of caring. Because patient support services can play an important role in helping patients cope with their disease, they are critical to patients with cancer and their families. This article describes the methods used to address the need for patient support resources and identifies the process for identifying and evaluating existing resources and developing additional ones. The project goal was to streamline patient care access across the oncology care continuum from prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to end of life in ambulatory, hospital, and hospice settings.
authors.affiliation: Oncology Care Center, The Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Fran
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cartwright-Alcarese
authors.forename: Max W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: Ayanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zambodla
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Geduld
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Desjardins
mesh_terms: D003153:Community Health Services; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D009519:New York City; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012944:Social Support