The Downward Financial Spiral of Cancer: Impact of Financial Toxicity on Cancer Care Outcomes 0598

This lecture seeks to introduce 2 novel concepts to empower Oncology rehabilitation clinicians to minimize the impact of financial constraints on their patients.

The first is The Downward Financial Spiral of Cancer. Within the cancer treatment continuum, a spiraling interaction exists between exacerbating financial toxicity and the impact on the patient's disease course.1,2 Financial constraints impact care options, and health outcomes may be inferior. In turn, this increases the financial burden because increasingly complex medical situations are more costly; this further limits their ability to access care, and additional treatment options further diminish.

The second is Financial “Prehabilitation”. There is mounting evidence that interventions targeting economic factors can account for sizable reductions in morbidity and mortality.3 Clinicians could consider such proactive or preventative educational measures to anticipate and facilitate protective financial measures.

A second goal of this lecture shall be to encourage dissemination across the rehabilitation medicine landscape.