Geriatrische screening en evaluatie bij oudere patiënten met kanker

With the increasing number and proportion of older persons diagnosed with cancer, we are challenged to explore new approaches for the care of older patients with cancer. The specific characteristics and complex needs of older persons with cancer require new initiatives to improve the quality of care. Instead of only focusing on the medical part and the cancer diagnosis, older persons are in need of a more holistic approach that focuses on a combination of medical, social, functional, cognitive, mental and nutritional needs. Performing a ‘geriatric assessment’ (GA) to get this holistic view on the patient, is therefore recommended. This approach, which is already known for decades in geriatric medicine, has found his way to the older population with cancer since the mid-1990s. With the launch of the Cancer Plan in Belgium in 2008, there is an increasing interest in delivering better care for older patients with cancer by implementing a systematic geriatric screening and assessment in daily clinical practice. The general aim of this PhD dissertation is to evaluate the feasibility and performance of the implementation of a systematic geriatric screening and assessment in the care for older patients with cancer.nrpages: 246status: publishe