Difficulties in Accessing Cancer Care in a Small Island State: A Community-Based Pilot Study of Cancer Survivors in Saint Lucia

Aviane Auguste, Glenn Jones, Dorothy Phillip, James St. Catherine, Elizabeth Dos Santos, Owen Gabriel and Carlene Radix
Additional contact information
Aviane Auguste: Vaughan Arthur Lewis Institute for Research and Innovation (VALIRI), Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Morne Fortune, Castries LC06 101, Saint Lucia
Glenn Jones: Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica
Dorothy Phillip: Faces of Cancer Saint Lucia, Tapion Ridge, Castries LC04 201, Saint Lucia
James St. Catherine: Vaughan Arthur Lewis Institute for Research and Innovation (VALIRI), Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, Morne Fortune, Castries LC06 101, Saint Lucia
Elizabeth Dos Santos: Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission—Franck Johnson Avenue, Morne Fortune, Castries LC06 101, Saint Lucia
Owen Gabriel: Department of Oncology, Owen King European Union Hospital, Millenium Highway, Castries LC04 201, Saint Lucia
Carlene Radix: Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission—Franck Johnson Avenue, Morne Fortune, Castries LC06 101, Saint Lucia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: Developing robust systems for cancer care delivery is essential to reduce the high cancer mortality in small island developing states (SIDS). Indigenous data are scarce, but community-based cancer research can inform care in SIDS where formal research capacity is lacking, and we describe the experiences of cancer survivors in Saint Lucia in accessing health services. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to constitute a sample of survivors for interviews. Subjects were interviewed with a questionnaire regarding socio-demographics, clinical characteristics, health services accessed (physicians, tests, treatment), and personal appraisal of experience. We recruited 50 survivors (13 men, 37 women). Only 52% of first presentations were with general practitioners. The mean turnaround for biopsy results in Saint Lucia was three times longer than overseas ( p = 0.0013). Approximately half of survivors commenced treatment more than one month following diagnosis (median of 32 days, IQR 19–86 days), and 56% of survivors traveled out-of-country for treatment. Most survivors (60%) paid for care with family/friends support, followed by savings and medical insurance (38% each). In conclusion, cancer survivors in Saint Lucia are faced with complex circumstances, including access-to-care and health consequences. This study can guide future research, and possibly guide practice improvements in the near term.

Keywords: cancer; health care delivery; medical tourism; care pathways; community health; health disparities; Caribbean; Saint Lucia; small island developing state; low-and-middle income country (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4770/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/9/4770/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:9:p:4770-:d:546555

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().