Project 465743

Patients who have language barriers have difficulty getting timely access to health care. They may not be able to recognize signs and symptoms of an emergent health condition or explain their symptoms to health care providers. These factors can lead to delay in diagnosis and treatment. In the case with cancer-related spinal cord injury, delayed awareness and not being able to communicate with the health care team can lead to permanent spinal cord injury. Spinal cord injury is an uncommon but serious complication of cancer. It occurs when a tumour grows into the spinal cord, causing a communication failure between the nervous system and the body. Early recognition and treatment of this problem are key to preventing permanent damage to the spinal cord. Patients with cancer who have spinal cord injury have poorer quality of life and cancer survival. Using the case example of cancer-related spinal cord injury, the aim of this project is to identify differences and barriers in early cancer diagnosis and care of patients with language barriers. The goal is to develop health system changes to improve the cancer and cancer care outcomes of patients with language barriers.