Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth most common type of cancer and second most common cause of cancer-related deaths for both men and women in Canada. Although treatments have improved survival, they can cause lasting side effects, such as bowel dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, and worse quality of life (QOL). Data are surprisingly lacking on the long-term physical and psychological symptoms, symptom management problems, and their associated distress after treatment for CRC. Although symptom management programs have been developed for other cancers, none exist for long-term CRC survivors. Therefore, this project makes a novel contribution to the survivorship care planning of this population by examining symptom severity and symptom management problems in long-term CRC survivors and designing and implementing a symptom management intervention.