What influences cancer treatment service access in Ghana? A critical interpretive synthesis

Objectives: Multiple social-cultural and contextual factors influence access to and acceptance of cancer treatment in Ghana. The aim of this research was to assess existing literature on how these factors interplay and could be susceptible to local and national policy changes.

Design: This study uses a critical interpretive synthesis approach to review qualitative and quantitative evidence about access to adult cancer treatment services in Ghana, applying the socioecological model and candidacy framework.

Results: Our findings highlighted barriers to accessing cancer services within each level of the socioecological model (intrapersonal, interpersonal community, organisational and policy levels), which are dynamic and interacting, for example, community level factors influenced individual perceptions and how they managed financial barriers. Evidence was lacking in relation to determinants of treatment non-acceptance across all cancers and in the most vulnerable societal groups due to methodological limitations.

Conclusions: Future policy should prioritise multilevel approaches, for example, improving the quality and affordability of medical care while also providing collaboration with traditional and complementary care systems to refer patients. Research should seek to overcome methodological limitations to understand the determinants of accessing treatment in the most vulnerable populations.