Implementation of a Tool to Identify Social Weaknesses in the Cancer Care Pathway

Social inequalities in the face of cancer are significant in all countries. They are characterized by higher mortality among people may be in the lower socioeconomic category. The care pathway may also be a source of inequality or accentuate inequalities. Socially vulnerable patients must be provided with appropriate care. It is therefore necessary to identify patients with such social vulnerabilities as early as possible and to take them into account throughout the care process. To meet this need, the DEFCO project ("Detection of social frailties and coordination of the path of patients in cancer: a new approach by an expert computer system") was designed and conducted by the Centre Hygée at the Lucien Neuwirth Cancer Institute (ICLN) in 2014 and 2015, in partnership with an industrial engineering research laboratory, the DISP ("Décision \& Information pour les Systèmes de Production"). Its objective was to develop a tool for systematic screening of social fragility, involving few caregivers and making it possible to identify patients most at risk of social maladjustment. The choice was made to develop a self-administered questionnaire using tablets connected to a neural network. Since its implementation, the deployment of the DEFCO project ("Detection of social frailties and coordination of the path of patients in cancer: a new approach by an expert computer system") tool at the Lucien Neuwirth Cancer Institute (ICLN) has required several training and awareness-raising activities to strengthen the motivation of the various stakeholders. These same actors have also implemented different strategies to optimize the functioning of the tool. Developed in a specialized institution, this tool must demonstrate, in this second stage of the project, it transferability and it possibilities of implementation in other structures. It is also necessary to evaluate it in terms of it is impact, particularly on the fluidity of care pathways and on the social consequences of the dis