AI Insight
Cancer patients face significant financial burden from the high costs of treatment, a problem researchers call "financial toxicity." This financial stress leads some patients to adopt harmful coping strategies, including delaying or avoiding necessary treatment and skipping prescribed medications. Patient-centered financial navigation assistance has been shown to help reduce this financial toxicity among cancer patients.
Why it matters
Financial navigation services could provide a practical intervention to prevent cancer patients from compromising their treatment due to cost concerns. Reducing financial toxicity may improve treatment adherence and health outcomes while addressing a widespread problem in cancer care.
Understand the Science
Among cancer patients, the high financial cost of cancer care is a prevalent problem. This financial burden is also associated with potentially harmful behavioral strategies that patients might use to cope with costs, such as delaying or forgoing treatment and skipping medications. Collectively, researchers refer to this impact as financial toxicity.