Abstract IA22: Financial well-being and health: Definitions and measurement issues

Abstract

The cost of cancer care is rising faster than other diseases, and the financial hardship that cancer imposes on families may exacerbate racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in outcomes throughout survivorship. Discussions about the financial burden of cancer care have increased in recent years in the academic literature and popular press, and several terms have been used to describe this burden. Yet, the discussion oftentimes conflates the lack of material resources to cover medical expenses, the potential psychosocial distress accompanying the lack/reduction in financial resources, and the behavioral coping responses to address the lack /reduction in financial resources. Many health care professionals report feeling unprepared to address family financial well-being in the context of health care delivery, and research suggests that most individuals report low levels of financial self-efficacy even outside the context of managing a chronic disease. We currently lack reliable and valid measures to adequately assess the material, psychosocial, and behavioral aspects of household financial well-being prior to, during, and following cancer care. The dearth in assessment tools of financial well-being in the cancer context impedes efforts to identify modifiable intervention targets of the financial burden of cancer care to ensure that families do not succumb to financial ruin as they manage a chronic disease and navigate the health care system. Citation Format: Reginald Tucker-Seeley. Financial well-being and health: Definitions and measurement issues [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr IA22.