Pain is common at all stages of cancer. Despite recommendations for its management and multidisciplinary treatment strategies, cancer related pain is undertreated in many patients. Unfortunately, unrelieved pain has a significant impact on various aspects of functioning and quality of life. Although several factors may contribute to under-treated pain, a root cause may be a lack of access to services. The availability of cancer pain management services across Canada and the range of multidisciplinary care available to patients remain largely unknown.  

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The purpose of this project is to examine the availability of pain management services across Canada for people with cancer pain to identify disparities in access to care. We will seek to reach all Canadian facilities offering pain management services in a cancer setting and all multidisciplinary chronic pain facilities offering cancer pain management to determine availability of services and characteristics of the population served.   

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The information gathered will allow us to identify gaps in cancer pain management. In this sense, the information from this study will help guide the efforts of health service managers, government officials, and funders to better meet the needs of patients across the disease continuum.