MyPath: The Roadmap to Implement Patient-Centred Care

Abstract

Globally, healthcare systems are grappling with economic and human resource struggles. The ageing of the population and the rising prevalence of cancer are some of the main drivers of healthcare expenditure. If these challenges are not properly managed, the quality of the cancer care provided can deteriorate. Moreover, people with cancer struggle with physical, psychological, and social problems that are not routinely addressed despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of the systematic assessment and management of symptoms. Based on the evidence that the delivery of patient-centred care (PCC) with active anticancer treatment improves most clinical outcomes and satisfaction with care, international consensus and guidelines revisions recommend the delivery of PCC as an integral part of anticancer treatment. Unfortunately, PCC is not implemented routinely, and patients do not receive the care they need. Funded by the EU, the MyPath project aims to assess whether PCC can be integrated into clinical practice using patient-centred care pathways supported by health information technology. At the core of the project is implementation science. Understanding what is required to successfully implement PCC will facilitate the uptake of evidence-based medicine across the continuum of routine cancer care, from active treatment to palliative care, to ensure that patients receive the care they need, when they need it. The purpose of this article is to present the methodology to be used in the MyPath project to implement PCC routinely. This study will be performed in nine European cancer centres. After its completion, we will assess if the proposed solution is successfully implemented.