Background:
Australia has high burden of cancer with one in two adults diagnosed with the disease by the age of 85 and an increasing number of cancer survivors living long-term after a cancer diagnosis. Psychosocial impacts can be long-lasting and debilitating if left untreated. Additionally, government policy has focused attention on the outcomes of underserved populations including First Nations peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse populations, young people, and older people, making it important to consider psycho-oncology care in evolving policy focus.
Objective:
Our aim was to identify the current status of psychosocial care of people living with a cancer diagnosis in Australia and to propose strategies for improvement.
Methods:
Using a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) framework a policy- and systems-level analysis was conducted using data available from Cancer Australia, State Cancer Organisations, and non-government organisations. Focus areas included: service coverage, workforce, professional training, regional disparities, population disparaties, reimbursement, public perception, and digital health infrastructure.
Results:
Strengths include the high-quality workforce, availability of funding for psychological care, a strong culture of psycho-oncology research, availability of psychosocial support through NGOs, and interdisciplinary collaboration in cancer services. Weaknesses include the limited trained psycho-oncology workforce, a heavily privatized psychology workforce, reimbursement structures (activity-based funding, , Siloed medical and psychosocial services, and persistent mental health stigma. Opportunities include the expansion of multidisciplinary cancer services to psycho-oncology specialists, evaluation of essential components of care and development of interventions to address needs, collaborative research, development of psychosocial care guidelines and optimal care pathways, and leveraging digital health technologies. Threats include increasing cancer burden, workforce shortages, particularly in psychiatric and psychosocial care domains, limited budgets and competing priorities for public policies.
Conclusion:
Australia has a strong psycho-oncology workforce and provides worldclass care. However, challenges such as workforce capacity, availability of effective interventions, and stigma must be addressed.