Committee Equity in cancer
Chair: Meeke Hoedjes
Members: Saskia Duijts, Nicole Ezendam, Simone Oerlemans, Kelly de Ligt & Fabiola Muller
The equity in cancer committee focuses on themes such as representative research, social inequality and innovative and inclusive research methods within psychosocial oncology. In this committee, and in collaboration with the field, the emergence of social inequality for people with and after cancer is discussed and underserved target groups are being identified, such as:
- migrants
- people without an employment contract
- people living longer with cancer
- people with a rare cancer diagnosis
Social inequality cannot easily be predicted with obvious variables, such as low health literacy. It is precisely the complex interaction between different factors that is important. For instance, in rare cancers, people with high health literacy have been found to experience higher burden because of unanswered questions and high need of information, compared to people with low health literacy. Ways to make research more inclusive are being explored. It is important to consider what is needed to reach different target groups as early as the grant application stage. Think of: interpreters, a translation of questionnaires for non-native Dutch speaking people, or paper questionnaires for people with limited knowledge of or access to digital questionnaires.
Do you have any questions or want to contribute to this committee? Please contact Meeke Hoedjes.