Cancer Care Ontario's Systematic Symptom Screening Strategy: A Human-Centred Design Approach to Exploring System Gaps and Defining Strategies for the Future.

Cancer patients experience a high symptom burden throughout their illness. Quality cancer symptom management has been shown to improve patient quality of life and prevent emergency department use. Cancer Care Ontario introduced standardized symptom screening in Ontario, using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) to facilitate patient reporting and management of symptoms.

Cancer Care Professionals' Attitudes Toward Systematic Standardized Symptom Assessment and the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System After Large-Scale Population-Based Implementation in Ontario, Canada.

Context: Cancer patients experience a high symptom burden throughout their illness. Despite this, patients' symptoms and needs are often not adequately screened for, assessed, and managed.

Objectives: This study investigated the attitudes of cancer care professionals toward standardized systematic symptom assessment and the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and their self-reported use of the instrument in daily practice in a large healthcare jurisdiction where this is routine.