"Our hope for the study is to develop a communication aid for patients to better facilitate treatment decision-making," said Meropol. "First we're going to assess what's most important to each individual patient, for example, 'How important to you is quality of life as you undergo treatment?' and 'How much detail do you want from your doctor?' We're also going to teach patients how best to communicate these values to their doctors. We want to give patients the tools they need to make treatment decisions that work for them."
In this multi-center study funded by the NIH, Meropol and his colleagues will develop and test an interactive internet-based tool that assesses patient values and information needs, provides education about cancer treatment and offers communication skills training. Before the patient arrives for a consultation, a computer-generated report will be given to the physician.
The report will provide a summary of the patient's values, wishes regarding the roles of patient and doctor in decision-making, and desires concerning the detail and nature of how potential risk and benefit information about treatment is presented to them.
Meropol has identified in his previous studies that important goals of medical decision making are often not met for cancer patients considering treatment options, including satisfactory discussion of issues consistant with individual patient values, and effective communication of physician expectations of potential risks and benefits of therapy.
"The aim of this research is to measure whether this type of computer-based intervention improves doctor-patient communication and patient satisfaction, such that it can one day become part of routine patient care. The comfort level with computers is now so high that we should be able to utilize this technology in daily clinical practice," concluded Meropol.
Fox Chase Cancer Center, one of the nation's first comprehensive cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute in 1974, conducts basic, clinical, population and translational research; programs of prevention, detection and treatment of cancer; and community outreach. For more information about Fox Chase activities, visit the Center's web site at http://www.fccc.eduor call 1-888-FOX CHASE.