Financial Hardship, Food Insecurity, and Forgone Medical Care

Excerpt

Financial hardship is increasingly understood as a serious threat to achieving cancer health equity. Food insecurity, defined as an inability to access enough healthy food because of a lack of money or other resources, is an extreme manifestation of financial hardship that occurs when patients shift money from their food budget to cover other expenses, including cancer treatment. Emerging evidence suggests that cancer-related financial hardship disproportionately impacts Latinos; however, the research on financial hardship, food insecurity, and access to medical care is limited. Results are presented from a cross-sectional survey comparing the prevalence of financial hardship and food insecurity among population-based Hispanic and non-Hispanic cancer survivors, and the relationship between ethnicity, food insecurity, and forgone medical care is examined. The substantially higher prevalence of food insecurity among Hispanic cancer survivors highlights the need for food insecurity screening and prevention programs in community oncology practice.