Sec. 2. Findings
456 words·~2 min read·
/bill/117/hr/9565/ih/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: A cancer survivor is any individual with a history of cancer, from the time of diagnosis through the rest of their life, across the continuum of care. Today, there are approximately 18,000,000 Americans who are cancer survivors, and the number of survivors is projected to reach 26,000,000 by 2040. Therefore, there is a great need to be able to provide ways to sustain the care needed and to offer those living with, through, and beyond cancer a safe, supportive, and accommodating environment where such individuals can engage in physical and social support activities to sustain optimal quality of life.
Cancer survivors face difficult emotional, psychological, neurological, financial, and other physical challenges that persist beyond diagnosis and treatment, often arising months and years after active cancer treatment ends. Cancer survivors have unique needs and must manage short- and long-term effects of their treatment, as well as regular screenings for cancer recurrence or new cancers. Cancer survivors of racial and ethnic diversity have disproportionately lower health-related, quality-of-life scores compared to non-Hispanic White cancer survivors.
Cancer survivors living in rural areas have less access to services and have poorer outcomes than survivors in metropolitan areas. Children, adolescent, and young adult cancer survivors are particularly susceptible to long-term consequences from treatment, and up to 80 percent have a severe, disabling, life-threatening, or fatal health condition by the age of 50. Best practices in this area would improve treatment, quality of life, and long-term health outcomes. Clinical trials have shown that cancer survivorship programs help cancer survivors meet or exceed the recommended amount of physical activity, significantly increasing their cardiovascular health and overall quality of life and decreasing their cancer-related fatigue.
Survivorship care refers to the medical or psychosocial care of an individual who has completed their primary treatment for cancer, or of an individual who is undergoing maintenance or intermittent medical treatment or maintenance psychosocial care for cancer, or of an individual living with metastatic disease under continuous medical or psychosocial treatment. Despite the National Cancer Institute and other professional organizations’ definition of a cancer survivor beginning on the day of a cancer diagnosis, there is little agreement among clinicians, researchers, and insurance companies on what services are included in survivorship care and the point at which survivorship care begins.
Cancer survivors, their families, their caregivers, and their providers face many difficulties understanding and coordinating the transition from specialty to primary care, and for this reason communication and treatment are often fragmented and inconsistent. To avoid additional health-related or financial hardships to cancer survivors and their families, comprehensive and forward-thinking cancer survivorship studies and programs across Federal agencies are required to engage in a coordinated effort to improve health outcomes and quality of life of survivors.