Muna Al-Khaifi, Lead of Breast Cancer Survivorship Program and GP oncologist, Skin Cancer Clinic at Sunnybrook, shared a post on LinkedIn:
” ‘You need a million dollars to build a survivorship care program — it’s impossible.’
I actually heard this in one of our conversations. And I understand where it comes from — survivorship care can sound complex and expensive. But this is not true.
You don’t necessarily need a million dollars to provide comprehensive survivorship care. Of course, having strong funding is ideal, but the absence of it shouldn’t stop us. Survivorship care can still be delivered meaningfully — with coordination, creativity, and teamwork.
Here’s where to start:
- Identify a survivorship champion in your team — someone passionate and willing to lead, even on a small scale.
- Use risk–need–resource–stratified models — tailor care based on patient needs and local capacity.
- Adopt shared-care pathways — engage primary care, nurses, and allied health in follow-up.
- Start simple — use Survivorship Care Plans to organize care and communication.
- Leverage bridge partnerships — connect with community organizations that provide education, rehabilitation, exercise, and psychosocial programs to extend support beyond the hospital.
- Use low-cost tools — telehealth, symptom trackers, or structured phone check-ins.
- Offer ongoing and group education — on fatigue, menopause, or emotional well-being.
- Provide reliable patient resources — pamphlets, links, or online materials. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel — there’s already excellent, evidence-based information available for most side effects.
Bottom Line
Don’t wait for the “dream budget” to provide comprehensive survivorship care — with perfect rooms, large teams, or every specialist in place. You can still do it.
Survivorship can be provided by everyone — not just survivorship specialists. Nurses, oncologists, surgeons, and primary-care providers can all play a role in identifying side effects early, supporting patients through transitions, and connecting them to the right resources and community programs.
Survivorship starts at diagnosis and continues through life — and it can be achieved in every setting when we work together. Because every survivor, everywhere, deserves care that goes beyond cure.”
More posts featuring Muna Al-Khaifi.