One way to help make sure you and your health care team understand each other is by using cancer care plans. If you were going on a trip, you would likely have a plan of how to get to your destination and what to do when you arrive. In the same way, roadmaps of cancer care plans that make sure you know where you are going and how you will get there. This roadmap should be discussed with your health care team and can be shared with other health professionals you see, such as your primary care doctor, radiologist, and surgeon. Cancer care plans are useful whether you are newly diagnosed, making the transition off of active treatment, or changing your treatment course.
There are currently more than 18.1 million Americans who are considered cancer survivors, and their ranks are growing rapidly as more than a million new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year. Unfortunately, the current U.S. health care system is failing to deliver the comprehensive and coordinated follow-up care cancer survivors deserve. Too many survivors are lost in transition once they finish treatment.
Every cancer survivor should have a comprehensive care summary and follow-up plan once they complete their primary cancer care that reflects their treatment and addresses a myriad of post-treatment needs to improve their health and quality of life.
Elements of a Survivorship Care Plan
Questions Survivors Should Ask
“What treatments and drugs have I been given?”
Patients should require their doctor to provide a written record detailing the type of cancer they had, the treatments and drugs they received, and the potential side effects of these treatments.
“Do I need to seek follow-up care?”
Patients should be given a written cancer survivorship plan that would detail what kinds of screening or tests they should be receiving post-treatment and a schedule of when they should be following up with their primary care or oncology provider to have these performed.
“Will I get cancer again?”
Oncology providers should explain, both verbally and in writing, the risks of secondary cancers or recurrent cancers and what signs or symptoms to look for.
“What should I do to maintain my health and well-being?”
Patients should be advised on the benefits of healthy diets and routine exercise and the perils of not routinely using sunscreen or continuing to smoke. Patients also should ask their doctors, if appropriate, about whether they should inform close relatives about their increased risk of cancer and need for cancer screening.
“Even though I survived cancer, will I feel differently physically?”
Cancer treatment has a different effect on everyone, and for some survivors, there are serious side effects from treatment. Providers need to educate patients and make them aware of the possible short and long term effect that may arise. Radiation could affect a person’s heart, stamina, or fertility. Patients may feel overly anxious or depressed about the possibility of getting cancer again. You should ask your doctor how treatment could affect your long-term health and mental functioning.
“Will I have trouble getting health insurance or keeping a job because of my cancer?”
Having cancer can affect access to health or life insurance, the ability to keep a job, as well as job mobility. Providers should be prepared to offer cancer patients information about what resources are available if they face employment discrimination or are unable to access or keep health and life insurance.
“Are there support groups I can turn to?”
Your provider should be able to provide a useful list of community or nationally based cancer-related organizations or other groups that can offer support with or information on survivorship issues and challenges.
“Now that I’ve finished treatment, who on the cancer team will be responsible for monitoring my care?”
Patients should know who will be the main point of contact working with their primary care provider to coordinate follow-up care related to their cancer treatment.
Cancer Care Plan templates help you map out your care from before you begin treatment through when your treatment ends. The care planning templates found on this page are designed to make help you understand your options and to make sure your team understands what is important to you. These templates can also help you and your health care team create your Cancer Care Plan, which includes your Treatment Plan, Treatment Summary, and Follow-Up Survivorship Care Plan.
Below are care plan templates from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that can be used for any type of cancer. You can print these pages out and take them with you to your doctor.
Note: Templates are in Microsoft Word document .docx format.
*Includes a Treatment Summary
OncoLife is an online Survivorship Care Plan builder created by Oncolink, a cancer information website maintained by Penn Medicine. The OncoLife tool can be used by either patients or clinicians to develop a care plan.
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Founder
Northeast Regional Cancer Institute
“Perhaps one of the most impactful collaborations in Dr. Brereton’s extraordinary career remains his early work and long friendship with Ellen Stovall. Through him, and in turn through the thousands of lives he has touched, Ellen’s work continues, and her mission lives on.”
—Karen M. Saunders
President, Northeast Regional Cancer Institute