Grant: Catalyst Grant: Health Services and Economics Research in Cancer Control

Indigenous people experience worse cancer incidence and survival when compared to the general population. There may be many potential reasons why cancer outcomes are worse in Indigenous communities. Issues related to physical or social environment, income and education levels, and complex cultural barriers have been strongly associated with the receipt of poor general medical care. Access to cancer care may be further challenged in many remote or rural Indigenous communities. As a result, there is a significant need to better describe the current patterns of cancer care experienced by Indigenous patients, identify potentially modifiable risk factors, and highlight deficiencies in their care that may be amenable to intervention. This study aims to enhance the delivery of cancer services and begin to narrow the gap in cancer outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. To achieve this, we plan to identify patient and system level factors that are associated with inappropriate cancer care for Indigenous people and develop, with clinical and Indigenous leaders, a set of initial recommendations to address major gaps in Indigenous cancer care.