Erika Hamilton: The colour of your skin or your zip code shouldn’t be a determinant to whether you get good oncology care
Erika Hamilton shared a post by Arif Kamal on LinkedIn:
“I have loved partnering with the American Cancer Society as part of their Breast Cancer Round Table to address many of these issues. The colour of your skin or your zip code shouldn’t be a determinant to whether you get good oncology care. Disparities exist and it’s time to get very “real” about demolishing them.”
Quoting the Chief Patient Officer of Arif Kamal‘s post:
“The latest American Cancer Society report on the status of cancer disparities in the US is out. TLDR This sentence:
‘Many of the observed racial, socioeconomic, and geographic disparities in cancer mortality align with disparities in exposure to risk factors and access to cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment, which are largely rooted in fundamental inequities in social determinants of health.’
In 2024, you will see us leaning in further into addressing social determinant barriers. Historically, our superpowers have been in lodging and transportation, but we’re also looking for partnerships to develop programming in food insecurity, genetic/familial risk assessment, caregiving (for example, babysitting, adult care), task services (errands), travel support, exercise/active lifestyle, and others.
As advances in cancer care result in the disease becoming a chronic condition for many, we must appreciate that “resilience to Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) barriers is a function of time”. For just about everyone – regardless of a person’s financial means and relationships – facing an SDOH barrier is a question of “when”, not “if”.”
For details click here.
Source: Erika Hamilton/LinkedIn and Arif Kamal/LinkedIn
Erika Hamilton is a medical oncologist and the Director of Breast Cancer and Gynecologic Cancer Research at Sarah Cannon Research Institute (USA). In her role, Dr. Hamilton oversees the research program and clinical trial menu for gynecologic and breast cancer from a medical oncology perspective. Dr. Hamilton is a past chair of ASCO’s Scientific Breast Committee a ’21-’22, participant of the ASCO Leadership Development Program, Associate Editor for Clinical Breast Cancer, co-chair for Great Debates and Updates in Women’s Oncology Conference and a board member of the Susan G. Komen Foundation of Central Tennessee. She is active in the community, volunteering with Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee, the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge, Ovarcome ovarian cancer support organization, Brentwood Baptist Church and the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.