Rapid Fire Best of the Best Poster Oral Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

Embedding equity in the Australian Cancer Plan: engaging priority populations to improve equitable outcomes for all Australians (#123)

Sarah McNeill 1 , Susan Hanson 1 , Jacinta Elston 1 , Anna Boltong 1 2 , Dorothy Keefe 1 , Adam Lambert 1
  1. Cancer Australia, Strawberry Hills, NSW, Australia
  2. Kirby Institute, UNSW Medicine, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Austraila

 

Aim

Despite Australia having some of the best cancer outcomes in the world these are not shared equitably across population groups. Disparities are strongly associated with cultural and social determinants of health including ethnicity, systemic racism, language, education, age, gender, faith, mental health, disability, health literacy and sexual orientation. The aim was to embed health equity into the Australian Cancer Plan to achieve equitable outcomes for all Australians.

Method

An evidence-informed stakeholder engagement strategy was used to engage priority populations as follows:

  • Led by cultural, policy, clinical and consumer experts in developing a ‘health equity in cancer outcomes’ framework, underpinned by an environmental scan.
  • Driven by the health equity framework, a mixed method approach to data analysis was used to inform the engagement strategy.
  • Examined qualitative data from community consultation and stakeholder workshops in conjunction with statistical data from population level registries.
  • Priority populations engaged: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people living in rural, remote and lower socioeconomic areas; people from culturally diverse backgrounds; children; adolescents; young adults; older people; LGBTQI+ community; people with disability or mental health conditions.
  • Conducted tailored focus groups with priority population peak bodies and consumer organisations.

Results

Preliminary findings from tailored focus groups include: the value of population focused Optimal care pathways (in addition to tumour-specific OCPs); a systems approach to consumer navigation; community organisations as facilitators of access to care; bolstering workforce capability; preserving national system innovation gains from COVID-19  telehealth, teletrials, rapid access clinics; addressing systemic racism and barriers to access (language, health literacy); delivery of strength-based, age-appropriate, culturally responsive care.

Conclusions

Undertaking early engagement of priority populations and being guided by a health equity framework ensures that lived experiences of inequity will be addressed in the Australian Cancer Plan’s 10-year ambition statements, 2 and 5 years goals, and associated actions.