Key insights	Recommendations for care providers
The COVID-19 pandemic elicited feelings of uncertainty, fear and vulnerability among patients and health professionals.	Institutional pandemic plans for the future should formally integrate lessons from social, emotional, and technological challenges evident during COVID.
On top of disruptions to their care, cancer patients had to cope with disruptions to informal support networks and diminished cultural attention to cancer.	Pandemic plans should include provision for increasing social support (e.g., access to social work professionals and/or means to facilitate informal care) and public communication strategies to acknowledge and counter the perception of a pull of attention away from patient circumstances.
Telehealth was more suitable for some types of appointments than others, and was not always done well.	Health systems should invest in technology and training to ensure telehealth provision is adequate to patient needs. Patients and care providers should discuss appropriateness of telehealth appointments on a case-by-case basis, with institutional guidelines for support.
Face-to-face appointments that excluded the support person (for infection control purposes) often left patients feeling scared and/or confused.	Care providers should facilitate remote participation of a support person where they are prevented from attending in person (e.g., set up a separate room with video connection).
Many patients were afraid to visit hospitals (due to fear of infection). Safety measures (e.g., PPE) built trust in care providers but also introduced emotional distance and communication difficulties.	Care providers should consider ways to overcome emotional distance (e.g., friendly signage, verbal reassurance) and communication difficulties (e.g., voice amplification, clear written materials).
Support systems for patients, families, and caregivers need constant adaptation to provide equitable and balanced access to care during usual but also extraordinary circumstances.	Preparedness for pandemics and other crises (e.g., natural disaster, terrorism…etc.) should be an integral part of health policy and strategy.