Fast Facts: Survivorship Plans
- There are approximately 14 million cancer survivors in the United States and this population continues to grow.
- A cancer survivorship care plan can enhance your long-term health by helping you manage concerns related to late effects of cancer care and concerns for recurrence and survivorship.
- Survivorship care plans also serve as important communication tools for you and your caregivers, family members and healthcare professionals.
Many hospitals now routinely provide both treatment plans developed by oncologists to detail the cancer treatment received and survivorship care plans which provide treatment summaries and follow-up care plans that include steps for follow-up care and monitoring, rehabilitation and ongoing nutrition, physical activity and well being. However, if you were not provided a cancer survivorship care plan, you can still develop one.
Below are links to templates developed and supported by trusted organizations including the American Society of Clinical Oncologists (ASCO), Journey Forward, and Oncolink, which offers its template in collaboration with LiveStrong. You may be able to fill out most of your plan yourself, or you may wish to work with your oncology team or a cancer survivorship clinic to complete your cancer survivorship care plan.
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Survivorship Plan Templates
ASCO’s Treatment Plan and Summary Resources
ASCO’s Survivorship Care Plan Template: ASCO has developed a revised survivorship care plan template, composed of the treatment summary and follow-up care plan, to enhance communication and coordination of care for the survivor. In addition, ASCO has recently released disease-specific templates for:
- Breast Cancer
- Colorectal Cancer
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Prostate Cancer
- Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
ASCO’s Treatment Plan Template is designed to be delivered at the time of diagnosis in order to communicate the planned course of care.
OncoLife’s Survivorship Care Plan
The OncoLife Survivorship Care Plan program is designed for survivors of adult cancers.
Journey Forward: Guiding Survivors as They Move Ahead
The Journey Forward program helps survivors transition to life after cancer through the use of treatment summaries and follow-up care plans that include steps for follow-up care and monitoring.
Journey Forward’s My Care Plan App
This mobile app can be downloaded from the Apple App or Google Play store. It allows you to create a Cancer Survivorship Care plan and to keep it on your phone or tablet at all times.
Using this app you can:
- Summarize your treatment (with the help of your oncology provider),
- Develop a guided assessment of your survivorship concerns,
- Create a plan for your follow-up care
- Learn about what to expect moving forward.
Resources
- American Society of Clinical Oncology
- The Cancer Support Community
- National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
- Journey Forward
- Lance Armstrong Foundation (search for ‘cancer survivorship’). The LIVESTRONG Care Plan is a free online tool to help you develop a personalized plan for post-treatment care. You can use it to work with your oncologist and primary health care provider.
- American Cancer Society (search for ‘survivorship’) or call 800-227-2345
- LIVESTRONG Foundation (search for ‘cancer survivorship’) or by call 855- 220-7777
- Cancer Care or by calling 800-813-HOPE (4673)
References
Last Updated 5.6.2015
Mayer, D. K., Shapiro, C. L., Jacobson, P., & McCabe, M. S. (2014, December). Assuring Quality Cancer Survivorship Care: We’ve Only Just Begun. In American Society of Clinical Oncology educational book/ASCO. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Meeting (Vol. 35, pp. e583-91).
Blanch-Hartigan, D., Forsythe, L. P., Alfano, C. M., Smith, T., Nekhlyudov, L., Ganz, P. A., & Rowland, J. H. (2014). Provision and discussion of survivorship care plans among cancer survivors: results of a nationally representative survey of oncologists and primary care physicians. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 32(15), 1578-1585.
McCabe, M. S., Bhatia, S., Oeffinger, K. C., Reaman, G. H., Tyne, C., Wollins, D. S., & Hudson, M. M. (2013). American Society of Clinical Oncology statement: achieving high-quality cancer survivorship care. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 31(5), 631-640.
Dulko, D., Pace, C. M., Dittus, K. L., Sprague, B. L., Pollack, L. A., Hawkins, N. A., & Geller, B. M. (2013, November). Barriers and facilitators to implementing cancer survivorship care plans. In Oncology nursing forum (Vol. 40, No. 6, p. 575). NIH Public Access.
Mayer, D. K., Birken, S. A., Check, D. K., & Chen, R. C. (2015). Summing it up: An integrative review of studies of cancer survivorship care plans (2006‐2013). Cancer, 121(7), 978-996.
Resources
MyHealthFinder
is a mobile web and iOS/Android app to help cancer survivors find resources for healthy living.
