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Imagine a world without cancer. Although we see amazing advances in cancer care, the reality is many encounter barriers to cancer treatment due to income, education, geographical location, and discrimination due to ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, and disability. World Cancer Day (WCD) held every February 4th is a global initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). This year’s WCD campaign is Close the Care Gap. The goal of this initiative is to raise worldwide awareness, improve education and ignite personal, collective, and government action to reimagine a world where millions of preventable cancer deaths are saved and access to life-saving cancer treatment and care is equitable for all - no matter who you are or where you live.
Overcoming Barriers
The Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center strives to address some of the barriers to cancer care through our Patient Navigation Program.
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center Patient Navigators are available at any of our Mayo Clinic locations to provide free nonclinical support to all cancer patients and their families. A few examples of support navigators provide are assisting with access to cancer information, resources to help meet day-to-day needs, and emotional support to all patients.
Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center has both general Patient Navigators who assist all patients and disease groups as well as Patient Navigators who serve specific cultural patient populations. Currently we have navigators on staff serving these communities: Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, and African Descent. These populations were identified as Mayo Clinic strives to recognize the unique challenges and barriers some of our patients and their families face. As these needs are being recognized, we look forward to expanding the Patient Navigation program to ensure patients coming through the doors of Mayo Clinic can receive the timely care they need.
To learn more about the Patient Navigation program or how to access a Patient Navigator at your Mayo Clinic location, click the Patient Navigation Tab.
What has been your biggest barrier to cancer care?
Find support on other Mayo Clinic Connect Support Groups or Blogs that address barriers to care, health equity research, and community engagement:
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