Addressing Financial and Social Needs Among Patients With Cancer

Financial hardship and health-related social needs (HRSNs) (e.g., insecurity about food, housing, transportation, and utilities) are common among patients with cancer, resulting in health disparities in cancer outcomes. Addressing financial hardship and HRSNs can mitigate their damaging health effects, yet screening for them is not the standard clinical practice. There is compelling evidence that out-of-pocket cost (OOPC) communication complemented by financial navigation and counseling delivered by a financial navigator (CostCOM intervention) will decrease financial hardship. However, implementation of this intervention is limited given shortage of financial navigators in many cancer centers. There is also evidence that patients with financial hardship have lower financial health literacy and financial self-efficacy. However, it is not clear whether direct access to local community or national resources and financial education (FinEd intervention) in the absence of financial navigators will meet patient's needs. Investigators propose a 3-arm pilot randomized controlled trial to assess potential efficacy differences in adherence, financial hardship, financial health literacy, quality of life, and sleep between CostCOM vs. FinEd vs. enhanced usual care (EUC) among 90 newly diagnosed cancer patients (1:1 non-metastatic vs. metastatic) who receive systemic or radiation therapy and are screened positive for financial and social needs. Our multidisciplinary team has experience with all facets of the proposed intervention. CostCOM patients will participate in two remote counseling sessions at baseline, and 3 months, and will receive (1) OOPC communication, individualized, patient-specific education of the anticipated medication OOPC; (2) Financial navigation, real-time professional guidance to identify financial assistance programs that will alleviate costs of care and discuss information to improve insurance coverage; and (3) Financial counseling to address the range of patients' financial concerns and enroll patients in financial assistance programs. FinEd patients will receive (1) a comprehensive list of local and national resources where patients can self-refer for financial and social needs; and (2) online and paper financial educational materials on topics such as health insurance and health insurance literacy, and navigating price estimator tools. EUC patients will receive usual care enhanced by screening for financial and social needs. Our goals are to compare the efficacy of CostCOM vs. FinEd vs. EUC at 6 months on (1) patient-reported cost-related cancer care nonadherence (defined as self-reported delay, forgo, stop or change in cancer care due to cost concerns), treatment completion and missed appointments (as obtained via medical record); (2) patient-reported financial worry, material hardship, health insurance literacy, and quality of life; and (3) patient-reported and objectively measured sleep quality using a sleep monitor. The study will support feasibility for a larger trial, and reveal efficacy estimates for potential CostCOM vs. FinEd differences in improving cancer patients' outcomes and approaches for incorporation into routine clinical practice.