The impact of “significant others” on breast cancer patients’ treatment decision making.

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (34_suppl) ◽  
pp. 20-20
Author(s):  
Suepattra G. May ◽  
Katharine Rendle ◽  
Meghan Halley ◽  
Nicole Ventre ◽  
Allison W. Kurian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Medical Decision Making ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Significant Others ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Treatment Decision Making ◽  
The Impact

20 Background: Shared medical decision making (SDM) has been lauded by advocates for its potential to democratize the patient-physician relationship. However, the practice of SDM is still conceived of as largely a dyadic moment that exists between the patient and the physician. Few studies have looked at the role of significant others (spouses, partners, family members and friends) in decision making or considered how discussions and actions outside the consultation room affect a patient’s medical decisions. This prospective study investigated the impact of significant others on the decision making deliberations of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. Methods: Forty-one newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were interviewed at four critical time points throughout treatment to explore how they deliberated decisions with both care providers and significant others. Surveys assessing HRQOL, role preferences and treatment satisfaction along with EHR abstraction augmented interview data. Grounded theory analysis was used to identify recurrent themes in the qualitative data, and survey data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Results: Emergent themes from our analysis identified several factors that patients consider when faced with cancer treatment decisions, including 1) presentation of treatment options 2) patient or significant other conflict/concordance with care team recommendations 3) perceived risk of recurrence and 4) short and long term impact of treatment on daily life. Participants stressed the need for clinicians to view patients beyond diagnosis and recognize their larger care network as influential factors in their decision making. Conclusions: Our interviews highlight how the current healthcare delivery structure rarely acknowledges the circles of care that can exert influence on decision making. Lack of attention to non-clinical others can lead to sub-optimal medical decision making because these influences are not adequately understood by clinicians. Findings from this study suggest the need to enhance clinicians’ and researchers’ understanding of the influence of others in patients’ treatment decision making, enabling them to intervene in these practices.

Breast cancer patients' personality style, age, and treatment decision making

1996 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie D. Johnson ◽  
Cleora S. Roberts ◽  
Charles E. Cox ◽  
Douglas S. Reintgen ◽  
Judi S. Levine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Personality Style ◽  
Treatment Decision Making

Primary care provider-reported participation in breast cancer treatment decision making.

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. 78-78
Author(s):  
Lauren P. Wallner ◽  
Yun Li ◽  
Chandler McLeod ◽  
Archana Radhakrishnan ◽  
Sarah T. Hawley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cancer Treatment ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Breast Cancer Treatment ◽  
Newly Diagnosed ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Treatment Decision Making

78 Background: Surgical treatment decisions for early-stage breast cancer patients are complex and often involve discussions with multiple oncology providers. However, with the increasing adoption of team-based cancer care models, it remains unknown to what extent primary care providers (PCPs) are participating in breast cancer treatment decisions and whether they feel they have enough knowledge to participate in these decisions effectively. Methods: A stratified random sample of PCPs identified by newly diagnosed early-stage breast cancer patients who participated in iCanCare Study (Georgia and Los Angeles SEER registries) were surveyed about their experiences caring for cancer patients (N = 519, 58% current response rate). PCPs were asked how frequently they discussed which surgery a patient should have, how comfortable they were with these discussions, whether they had the necessary knowledge to participate in treatment decision making and their confidence in their ability to help with treatment decision making (5-item likert-type scales). The individual items were then categorized as somewhat/often/always vs. never/rarely for analyses. Results: In this preliminary sample, 62% of PCPs were not comfortable having a discussion about surgery options with a patient newly diagnosed with breast cancer, 41% did not feel that they had the necessary knowledge to participate in treatment decision-making, and 34% were not confident in the ability to help with treatment decision-making. One third (32%) of PCPs reported discussing surgical treatment options with their newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, but 22% of these PCPs also reported that they were not comfortable having these discussions and 16% reported they did not have necessary knowledge to participate in decision-making. Conclusions: A minority of PCPs participate in breast cancer treatment decision-making and there are notable gaps in their self-reported knowledge about decision-making and confidence in their ability to help with these decisions. Efforts to increase PCP knowledge about the specifics of cancer treatments may be warranted, but further research is needed to assess the impact of PCP participation on treatment decision-making outcomes.

scholarly journals Treatment decision-making among breast cancer patients in Malaysia

2017 ◽  
Vol Volume 11 ◽  
pp. 1767-1777 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Hui Nies ◽  
Farida Islahudin ◽  
Wei Wen Chong ◽  
Norlia Abdullah ◽  
Fuad Ismail ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Treatment Decision Making

Informal decision support networks and treatment decisions for breast cancer.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (31_suppl) ◽  
pp. 24-24
Author(s):  
Sarah T. Hawley ◽  
Nancy K. Janz ◽  
Rose Juhasz ◽  
Steven J. Katz
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Decision Support ◽  
Family Member ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Treatment Decision ◽  
Support Networks ◽  
Breast Cancer Patients ◽  
Treatment Decision Making

24 Background: Although nearly 80% of breast cancer patients have someone with them during surgical consultations, there is little research that examines the extent, nature, or impact of informal decision support persons (DSPs) such as partner/spouse, other family members, or friends on breast cancer treatment decision making. Methods: Two data sources were used: 1) A population based sample of patients recently diagnosed in 2006/7 in the Detroit and Los Angeles SEER catchment areas completed a survey 9 months (N=1837, 72% response rate); and 2) A pilot survey study of a convenience sample of 150 breast cancer patients at three clinical sites surveyed within 18 months that examined more details on the extent and nature of informal decision support networks, including: a) quantity and type of DSPs involved in their treatments, b) number of appointments attended by DSPs, and c) patient-reported satisfaction with DSP’s involvement in treatment decision making. Results: Both a spouse/partner and another family member were very important in treatment decision-making for 33% of patients; a spouse/partner alone was very important for 19%; a family member alone was very important for 13%. A spouse/partner or friends were not important in treatment decision making for 24% of patients. Only 19% of patients reported that a friend was very important in treatment decision making. Friends were much more frequently endorsed among patients with family involvement (45%) vs those without family involvement (5%). Latina patients significantly more often reported that the opinion of a family member was very important vs. other race/ethnic groups (71% vs. 39%, p<0.001). Patients in the pilot study reported an average of 2.67 DSPs were involved in locoregional decision making (SD = 2.57 ) vs. an average of 0.8 (SD=1.03) for involvement in systemic treatment decision making. Conclusions: Many breast cancer patients rely on some informal decision support, but there is a very wide variation in the extent and nature of this support. Further work is needed to understand how to best incorporate DSPs into the treatment decision process. Additional findings will be presented to further describe the impact of informal treatment decision support for women with breast cancer.

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