Factors Contributing to the Yearly Incidence and Mortality Rates of Cancer in Americans
A number of factors contribute to the yearly incidence and mortality rates of cancer in Americans. One of the factors is the increased predisposition of the population to the modifiable risk factors for cancer. Accordingly, the majority of the American population engages in lifestyle and behavioral factors that increase their risk of developing cancers. An example is the high rate of smoking among the population that increases the risk of lung and throat cancer in the population. Lung cancer has been named the leading type of cancer diagnosed among the Americans due to the effect of modifiable factors such as smoking (Nipp et al., 2018). The second factor contributing to the yearly incidence of cancer in Americans is poor uptake of cancer screening services among the population. The effective management of cancer is achieved if the disease is diagnosed in its early stages. Early diagnosis of cancer depends largely on the health seeking habits of the population. Poor uptake of the cancer screening services translates into delayed diagnosis and poor prognosis in cancer treatment. Factors such as stereotypes and cultural influences on the utilization of cancer screening services contribute to yearly incidence as well as mortality rate of cancers in America (Hong et al., 2018; Rees et al., 2018). The last factor that contributes to the yearly mortality rate of cancer in America is the cost of treatment. Cancer treatment is expensive for patients and their significant others. According to Yabroff et al., (2019), the yearly incidence of mortality due to cancer in America is attributable to challenges in access to and affordability of cancer care. As seen from the study by Allcott et al., (2019), financial burden of cancer treatment leads to poor adherence to treatment regimen, hence, the high rate of mortality in cancer patients. Therefore, embracing responsive strategies could prevent early mortalities among cancer patients due to the effect of cost burden to them.
Role of American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society (ACS) may provide the support that cancer patients and their significant others require in managing the disease. Firstly, ACS provides cancer patients and their significant others support that include free transportation and lodging to patients seeking specialized treatment in distant locations. The aim of these services is to reduce the cost burden and psychological effects of cancer treatment. ACS also provides patients and their significant others resourceful information that can guide the in making informed decisions about the treatment options. The organization provides educational resources that have accurate information about the different approaches to cancer treatment that patients may explore for the effective management of the disease. The organization also links patients to national resources that they can utilize for the effective management of cancer. For example, patients benefit from social services, support groups, and wigs and prostheses to manage the psychological impacts of the disease. ACS also has an online community where cancer patients share their experiences with the disease and practical tips of lessening the impacts of the disease (ACS, n.d.). The online community empowers patients with interventions to improve their health and wellbeing.
I would recommend a number of services offered by ACS to cancer patients and significant others. One of the services is the online community. Cancer patients should join the online community to get the psychological support that they need by learning from the experiences of other patients. The other service is support with products for lessening the physical impacts of cancer. This includes encouraging the patients to seek support in supply of mastectomy and hair loss products to minimize the psychological impacts of the disease. The other service is breast cancer support where patients can talk with trained professionals and breast cancer survivors to gain the needed social and emotional support in managing the disease (ACS, n.d.).
Utilization of the Nursing Process
The nursing process can be utilized to provide safe and effective care for cancer patients across the life span. The nursing process can be used to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments to cancer patients. In the assessment phase, the nurse should aim at obtaining both subjective and objective data concerning the health status and needs of the patients. Nurses perform comprehensive history taking and patient assessment to identify the actual and potential health needs of cancer patients. Nurses use the information from patient assessment to plan the care that cancer patients need. Nurses use the information to develop actual and poten
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