Facilitators and barriers to shared primary and specialist cancer care: a systematic review

Improvements in cancer detection and treatment has led to a large and growing population of people living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis—cancer survivors. To care for cancer survivors, health services worldwide must reconsider how to deliver care to people living with and beyond a cancer diagnosis. Shared care, defined as cancer care that is shared between specialist and primary care providers, is one model that has been investigated; however, practical guidance to support implementation is lacking. This systematic review explored the facilitators and barriers to implementing shared cancer care and to develop practice and policy recommendations to support implementation. Key themes identified included the perceived need for further training for GPs; clearly defined roles of each HCP; the requirement for rapid, reliable, and accurate channels of communication between all members of a care team; and providing GPs with protocols or guidelines for follow-up care. Based on these findings, recommendations for practice and policy were generated to support broader implementation of shared cancer care.

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