Research

The Time Demands of Cancer-Related Activities and Their Impact on Well-Being and Quality of Life.

The time demands of cancer and its treatments are significant and take away from other activities important to people with cancer. With funding from the National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute, LIFT Network members Rachel Vogel and Julian Wolfson are leading a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota and the University of Alabama-Birmingham to measure these time burdens. Using a mobile app which relies on automated sensor data, we have measured objective cancer-related time use among individuals with advanced ovarian and metastatic breast cancer as well as self-reported cancer activities occurring at home, their well-being, and quality of life. We have collected the data and in the process of analyzing it. So far, we have found that patients spend a significant amount of time on cancer care – much of which is spent traveling, waiting or on home tasks. We expect this project will have a positive impact by creating measures of cancer-related objective time use and subjective burden, which enable us to better understand the problem and to develop and measure the efficacy of future interventions to reduce cancer time demands.

The Role of Insurance Design on Financial Toxicity and Access to Care for Cancer 

Health insurers are increasingly shifting the cost of cancer care to patients, increasing financial burden and impacting cancer treatment decisions.  With funding from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Helen Parsons, Robin Yabroff and Cathy Bradley are leading a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota, University of Colorado Denver and the American Cancer Society to understand the financial burdens after a cancer diagnosis. Using an innovative linkage of the Colorado Cancer Registry with Colorado All Payer Claims data and credit report data, we will examine the interplay between health insurance characteristics, financial burden and cancer care and outcomes. This research will contribute to our understanding of how cost-sharing for cancer care can impact patient outcomes and financial security after diagnosis.