conference abstract · Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention
Cancer patients in Nigeria face high risks of catastrophic healthcare spending during treatment. To address this, a cross-sectional pilot survey assessed stakeholder attitudes towards introducing a financial navigation programme at two cancer centres in Southwestern Nigeria, one private and one public. Using the RE-AIM implementation framework, the study gathered views from healthcare providers, researchers, and support staff caring for breast and colon cancer patients. The majority of the 28 respondents, most of whom were physicians, strongly supported the concept, viewing financial navigators as suitable and applicable for cancer care. However, 43 percent of participants were neutral or disagreed regarding the ease of use of such navigators. These findings highlight that while institutional willingness to adopt financial navigation is high, workflow and implementation hurdles must be resolved to design workable programmes for the Nigerian context.
Cancer treatments frequently cause devastating financial hardship for patients in Nigeria. Financial navigation programmes can help patients manage these costs and maintain care. Understanding healthcare worker perspectives ensures that new hospital support services are designed realistically, addressing workflow and operational concerns before large-scale clinical implementation.
This work informs early-stage healthcare delivery models and operational support tools for hospitals managing cancer treatment. Prospective users include public and private oncology centres seeking to implement patient support pathways. The intervention is currently at the feasibility and pre-trial stage, with further context-specific design required before wider rollout or standardisation as a clinical service model.
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Abstract Purpose: A growing body of evidence points to the potential efficacy of financial navigation in mitigating the risk of financial catastrophe in cancer patients. Nigerian cancer patients are particularly susceptible to financial catastrophe when undergoing cancer care. In this project, we assess the feasibility of implementing a financial navigation program at one private and one public cancer center in Southwestern Nigeria. Findings will inform a prospective trial investigating the impact of financial navigation on cancer care in Nigeria. Methods: This cross-sectional study used a fourteen-question survey to assess the perceptions of stakeholders at the Lakeshore Cancer Center (LCC) and Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC) on the feasibility of implementing a financial navigation program for patients undergoing breast and colon cancer care. Survey questions were generated using the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance)—a validated implementation-based framework. All staff involved in implementing patient care, including healthcare providers, researchers, and support staff were considered stakeholders and invited to complete the survey. All responses received were included in the survey results. We used descriptive analysis to report the survey findings. Results: Twenty-eight stakeholders (19 from LCC, 9 from OAUTHC) participated in this survey, with most respondents being physicians (60.7%). The majority (85–89%) of respondents liked the idea and approved the use of financial navigators in breast and colorectal cancer treatment. Over three-quarters of the respondents believed that assigning a financial navigator to these patients was suitable, fitting, and applicable. Almost half (43%) of the respondents did not agree that financial navigators seemed easy to use (36% were neutral and 7% disagreed). Conclusion: Our findings underscore a perception deficit in the ease of use of financial navigators in the care of patients with breast and colorectal cancer at two major cancer care centers in Nigeria. While most providers appreciated the need for FNs, almost half of them did not agree with their ease of use. Further research will focus on identifying the reasons underlying the suboptimal perceptions of the ease of use of financial navigators in Nigeria and designing financial navigation strategies appropriate for the Nigerian context. Citation Format: Frankie I. Uwechue, Emmanuel O. Uduigwome, Norah N. Zaza, Amir H. Sohail, Segun Afolaranmi, Zainab Adegbite, Chinenye Iwuji, Chukwumere Nwogu, Bindiya Sadarangani, Funmilola O. Wuraola, Olusegun I. Alatise, Kristina Diaz, Juliet S. Lumati. Introducing a Novel Financial Navigation Program for Cancer Patients in Nigeria: A Pilot Survey of Stakeholders [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 13th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; 2025 Sep 16. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 34.
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DOI: 10.1158/1538-7755.asgcr25-abstract-34
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