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International Perspectives

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Handbook of Cancer Survivorship

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Abstract

Cancer incidence is on the rise across the globe, and so too are the numbers of individuals living through and beyond cancer. Although progress has been made in the past decade shifting cancer from an acute to chronic illness requiring ongoing care, cancer survivorship remains a significant health concern across the globe (despite the reality that there still are many countries that are limited in their ability to identify and treat cancer). There are clear disparities in the ability to provide care to cancer survivors in the developed and the developing nations. This chapter reviews the socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental factors that impact a country’s ability to deliver survivorship care that is well organized, comprehensive, and culturally sensitive to survivors’ needs within a global context. The roles of healthcare systems, societal responses, cancer care, and survivorship care models across certain countries are highlighted. Despite efforts to advance cancer survivorship care, there is still a critical need to expand access to survivorship care globally through additional financial and human resources, greater international collaboration, research related to providing evidence-based care, and the reduction of fragmentation in care delivery.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic that is composed of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators. A high HDI indicates that a country has a high life expectancy at birth, a longer period of education, and a higher income per capita.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers School of Social Work, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Patricia A. Findley

  2. The University of Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Michael Jefford

  3. Department of Psychosocial Cancer Research, Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Christoffer Johanssen

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

    Andy S. K. Cheng

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  1. Patricia A. Findley
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  2. Michael Jefford
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  3. Christoffer Johanssen
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  4. Andy S. K. Cheng
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Correspondence to Patricia A. Findley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Professor (ret), Uniformed Services University Founder, Editor in Chief, Journal of Cancer Survivorship: Research and Practice, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Michael Feuerstein

  2. Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Perini Family Survivors’ Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA

    Larissa Nekhlyudov

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Findley, P.A., Jefford, M., Johanssen, C., Cheng, A.S.K. (2018). International Perspectives. In: Feuerstein, M., Nekhlyudov, L. (eds) Handbook of Cancer Survivorship. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77432-9_20

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