ReviewJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2026
Unequal paths to care: a scoping review of access and cancer outcomes in Alabama.
Review in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeAlabama experiences some of the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the USA. Black and rural residents experience a disproportionate burden of cancer disparities, driven by geographic isolation, financial hardship, limited insurance coverage, and fragmented healthcare systems, all of which impede timely access to cancer prevention, treatment, survivorship, and palliative care services. This scoping review synthesizes historical and contemporary research describing barriers and access to cancer care among residents of Alabama across the cancer care continuum using Robinson and Hudson's Inter-relationships Framework.
methodsGuided by the PRISMA-ScR reporting and Joanna Briggs Institute methodologies, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, and APA PsycINFO for peer-reviewed studies published between January 1, 1995, and December 30, 2024. Two reviewers independently screened articles and extracted data using a four-stage extraction and verification process. Critical appraisal was conducted using JBI tools to contextualize study quality; no studies were excluded based on appraisal scores.
resultsA total of 28 studies met criteria, involving Black, rural, and older adults in Alabama. Barriers to cancer care occurred at multiple levels. Patient-level barriers included financial hardship, travel burden, and insurance limitations. Provider-level influences included communication quality, cultural responsiveness, and continuity of care. System-level barriers included rural healthcare workforce shortages, concentration of specialty care in urban centers, and the absence of Medicaid expansion. Lay navigation and telehealth-based symptom monitoring demonstrated promise in improving access and continuity of care.
conclusionAccess to cancer care in Alabama is influenced by patient, provider, and system-level factors. Sustainable progress will require coordinated efforts that expand insurance coverage, strengthen rural healthcare infrastructure, and adopt culturally responsive, culturally centered cancer care delivery models. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Accessible healthcare is critical to achieve timely diagnosis, deliver appropriate treatments, and provide necessary supportive care to cancer survivors in under-resourced areas.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42762403What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.