Barriers to Accessing and Completing Treatment
A needs assessment, conducted in 2000, by Shanti and The Breast Cancer
Fund, in coordination with LifeLines consortium members, looked at the specific
barriers preventing medically underserved women with breast cancer from
accessing and completing treatment.
The needs assessment highlighted that women undergoing treatment are
often homebound and isolated from emotional support services at a time
when they are most susceptible to incapacitating fear, loneliness, and
depression.
It was also found that in many cases, breast cancer and its treatments
often cause a woman to become so ill she can no longer care for herself
and her family without additional assistance. Cooking dinner, buying groceries,
and even attending follow-up doctors' appointments can become too difficult.
It was found that if women had to leave their jobs due to
the debilitating effects of cancer and its treatments, they often were
not eligible for state disability or SSI payments until they had been
unemployed for at least one year. Because of this, they quickly exhaust their financial
resources on childcare, food, rent, and other non-medical expenses. Having
to face this extra financial and emotional stress made it even more difficult
for them to focus on their own health and reach out for the most basic
care.
It was also discovered that getting to and from medical appointments
could present a significant challenge. Many women in San Francisco often
have to take more than one bus to get to their appointments, making it
extremely difficult especially after radiation or chemotherapy.
Without support, these obstacles often seem insurmountable and make it
extremely difficult for women not only to get treatment, but to also maintain
a treatment regimen that has been clinically proven to extend, and in
many cases save, women’s lives.
The needs assessment process found that women ill with breast cancer,
particularly women who are low income, uninsured, or underinsured, critically
need support services such as transportation, meals, and emotional support
in order to increase their quality of life and complete their treatment
cycles.
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