Recent decades have witnessed significant advances in cancer treatment, leading to higher survival rates in most types of cancer. Despite these positive trends, we are also seeing an increase in cancer incidence and a growing burden on survivors and caregivers. This burden is not just physical or financial, it has a huge impact emotionally. From the time of diagnosis, cancer patients and their caregivers have to deal with complex emotions, from processing the initial diagnosis to dealing with day to day challenges. 

This journey can be incredibly challenging as information is not always easily accessible. Patients and caregivers often experience difficulties in learning how to deal with evolving symptoms, navigating the illness trajectory, and communicating with healthcare professionals, especially when there are many specialists involved or patients have gained information from inaccurate online sources. 

Addressing these challenges in cancer care is critical as self-management and caregiving are essential tools to control and manage the disease.

How Digital Health Solutions Can Empower Patients & Caregivers

The role of digital health solutions in improving healthcare accessibility and delivery is widely recognised, and this extends beyond features such as teleconsultations, chat support, and online appointment bookings.

Data Analytics & AI

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the power of data analytics in cancer care, showing how real-time insights can optimise treatment and improve outcomes. AI-powered data analytics allows for the identification of patterns in large datasets, including patient behaviours and barriers to adherence. This enables healthcare providers and caregivers to modify support and resources to individual patient needs, which can improve treatment adherence and outcomes. Although such features can help optimise healthcare resources, we also need a collaborative and patient-centred approach to AI integration that strengthens rather than undermines the doctor-patient relationship.

Mental Health Support

Digital health solutions that include mental health support can fill a gap in cancer care, helping patients and caregivers cope with the emotional challenges of cancer. These tools can offer virtual counselling, CBT sessions, stress management techniques, and access to support groups, which are crucial to maintain psychological wellbeing during treatment. Research indicates that such support can reduce anxiety and depression, whilst improving overall mental health, enhancing self-care and disease management.

Symptom Tracking & Management

Symptom tracking and management features can help cancer patients and caregivers by enabling real-time monitoring and early detection of adverse effects. This proactive approach can lead to timely interventions, improving overall quality of life and treatment outcomes for patients. Studies have shown that patients using digital tools for symptom monitoring during chemotherapy have better survival rates and quality of life, as healthcare providers can promptly address side effects and other challenges.

Wearable Devices

Wearable devices could play an increasingly important role in patient support programs for cancer care by automating and enabling real-time monitoring of vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, without the need for any patient or caregiver input. This reduces burden and promotes healthy behaviours, while also enabling timely intervention and more informed decision-making.

Better Communication Across the Spectrum of Care

Fragmented care is a huge barrier for cancer patients and caregivers because of the number of specialists involved in providing holistic care. Enhanced communication features in digital health solutions can facilitate better coordination among patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers with features such as secure messaging, teleconsultations, and shared access to electronic health records. This ensures that everyone involved in the patient's care is informed and aligned so that patients can receive the best possible treatment with lower risk of errors or delays. Furthermore, clear patient‐provider communication is an important determinant of patient satisfaction.

Creating Digital Support that Delivers for Patients & Caregivers

While the benefits of incorporating various digital features, such as knowledge banks, symptom trackers, and data analytics are well-established, not all digital health solutions enjoy high rates of patient adoption or adherence. This is because poor usability, inflexible design, lack of personalisation, and poor integration in clinician workflows are common barriers to the adoption of digital health solutions. 

Patients, caregivers, and patient advocacy groups in early research and design can significantly improve adoption rates as such solutions are more likely to reflect the needs of patients, rather than perceived needs. Studies clearly show that patients and caregivers regard ease of use, access to resources on disease management, and enhanced communication with healthcare providers as most important.

Avegen’s digital health solutions have been extremely successful because of their comprehensive features, including symptom tracking, mental health support, and enhanced communication tools, all of which significantly improve patient outcomes and experiences. Our specialised digital support solution for prostate cancer patients, Pro-Recover, has demonstrated high rates of consistent interaction, showing its efficacy in patient engagement and management. Reach out to us to find out how we can help you develop or enhance your digital health solutions to achieve similar outcomes.

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