Bridging the gap:

Dr. Eva Grunfeld helps raise cancer care quality to ideal standards

As Cameron Chair in Cancer Control Research, Dr. Eva Grunfeld strives to bridge the gap between what is and what ought to be in cancer care. "If we applied everything we know from research, it is estimated that cancer outcomes could improve by 30 per cent or more," Dr. Grunfeld says. "For example, we know that everyone over 50 should be screened for colorectal cancer, but only 30 per cent are. How do we raise the real to the ideal?"

Dr. Grunfeld aims to answer this and other questions through a province-wide study of all stages of colorectal cancer care -- from screening through diagnosis and treatment to end-of-life care. Canadian Institutes of Health Research has awarded Dr. Grunfeld $1.5 million over five years to work with a multi-disciplinary team, in partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Health, Cancer Care Nova Scotia and the QEII Health Sciences Centre. "We're examining issues of quality and access across the entire population," she explains. "If we find disparities, based on such factors as gender, geography or socio-economic status, we can address them with targeted programs."

In another series of studies, Dr. Grunfeld is looking into issues of quality and access in end-of-life care. One study shows that 78 per cent of breast cancer patients had access to palliative care in Nova Scotia when they needed it.

Known around the world for her groundbreaking work in follow-up care and cancer survivorship, Dr. Grunfeld is leading a national multi-centre study to improve follow-up care for breast cancer survivors. "We're looking at ways of easing the transition from active treatment to follow-up care," she says. "Women and their family doctors will receive customized care plans; we will be measuring women's quality of life and adjustment to cancer survivorship, their satisfaction with care, and how well the care they received matched the plan."

Dr. Grunfeld is director of Cancer Care Nova Scotia's Cancer Outcomes Research Program, chair of the Dalhousie Cancer Research Program and a professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Medical Oncology) at Dalhousie and Capital Health. In April 2008, she was appointed Cameron Chair in Cancer Control Research, a position funded through Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation's Cameron Endowment. This is the first cancer control research chair in Canada. Click here to view news release.