Table 3.
Overview by theme of the components and characteristics of Canadian resources for cancer care and control during the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Theme | Components | Characteristics and Type of Information Provided |
|---|---|---|
| Knowledge & awareness | General information | Public health information about COVID-19 (i.e., definition, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment) and/or links to relevant, external resources |
| Preventive measures | Protective practices related to SARS-CoV-2 (i.e., handwashing, wearing masks, social distancing advice) and/or the meaning of being immunocompromised and at an increased risk of developing worse COVID-19 symptoms compared to healthy individuals | |
| Self-assessment tool | Link(s) to provincial and/or federal online COVID-19 self-assessment tools including online series of inquiries into whether an individual has experienced any COVID-19 symptoms, travelled outside of Canada recently, had close contact with a symptomatic person, and/or travelled recently in the past 14 days | |
| Cancer care & control during COVID-19 | Implications on treatment | Effects of COVID-19 on in-patient and/or out-patient cancer treatments including visitation changes and alterations in treatment timelines and/or information on putative changes to treatment if a patient were to test positive for COVID-19 during treatment |
| Implications on screening | Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to cancer screening (i.e., regular screening, pre-treatment surveillance, post-treatment screening, self-sampling) | |
| Supportive resources | Physical health resources | Access to articles, links, and/or webinar series along with professional advice (i.e., oncology-specific nutrition advice) and resources (i.e., exercise webinars) relating to physical health of patients with cancer |
| Financial resources | Internal (i.e., donor-supported financial programs) and/or external financial resources (i.e., links to applications for employment insurance sickness benefits, Canada’s Emergency Response Benefit, donor-sourced financial support, Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan) for patients with cancer | |
| Mental health resources | Access to articles, external links, lecture series, online support groups, and/or webinars relating to mental health implications (i.e., anxiety, fear, isolation) for patients with cancer and their caregivers |