Using an asset mapping approach to evaluate the reach of community-level health equity interventions.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies. Owing to an ageing population and lifestyle-related risk factors, the global incidence of CRC has risen, and projections suggest that, by 2040, the number of CRC cases will reach 3.2 million, a 63% increase. This growing patient population, combined with a relatively shrinking healthcare workforce, poses major challenges for the sustainability of follow-up care. At the same time, advances in early detection and surgical techniques have improved survival. Nevertheless, approximately 30% of patients with stage I–III CRC experience recurrence or metastasis within 5 years after curative treatment. Early detection of such recurrences is thought to allow timely interventions and potentially improve survival outcomes, underscoring the need for effective and efficient follow-up strategies. Recent evidence, however, challenges the effectiveness of intensive follow-up. Both the 2022 systematic review by Galjart . and the FACS RCT showed that intensified follow-up, while leading to more treatments, does not improve survival. In addition, early detection of recurrence may impose an unnecessary psychological and physical burden on patients. These findings highlight the need to reconsider current follow-up strategies and to explore alternative models that can achieve comparable or improved outcomes while using fewer healthcare resources. In response to these challenges, patient-centred, home-based follow-up models have emerged as promising alternatives. Such approaches aim to empower patients to take a more active role in their care, potentially enhancing satisfaction while reducing the burden on healthcare systems. A single-centre study by Qaderi . demonstrated that a remote follow-up plan for curatively treated, non-metastatic CRC patients was feasible, cost-effective, and associated with a comparable quality of life to traditional hospital-based follow-up. Decisive evidence is still lacking, as no multicentre trial has yet been conducted.