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- Title
Provider perspectives on patient-provider communication for adjuvant endocrine therapy symptom management.
- Authors
Turner, Kea; Samuel, Cleo; Donovan, Heidi; Beckjord, Ellen; Cardy, Alexandra; Dew, Mary; Londen, GJ; Samuel, Cleo A; Donovan, Heidi As; Dew, Mary Amanda; van Londen, G J
- Abstract
<bold>Purpose: </bold>Providers' communication skills play a key role in encouraging breast cancer survivors to report symptoms and adhere to long-term treatments such as adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET). The purpose of this study was to examine provider perspectives on patient-provider communication regarding AET symptom management and to explore whether provider perspectives vary across the multi-disciplinary team of providers involved in survivorship care.<bold>Methods: </bold>We conducted three one-hour focus groups with a multi-disciplinary group of health care providers including oncology specialists, primary care physicians, and non-physician providers experienced in caring for breast cancer survivors undergoing AET (n = 13). Themes were organized using Epstein and Street's (2007) Framework for Patient-Centered Communication in Cancer Care.<bold>Results: </bold>The findings of this study suggest providers' communication behaviors including managing survivors' uncertainty, responding to survivors' emotions, exchanging information, and enabling self-management influences the quality of patient-provider communication about AET symptoms. Additionally, lack of systematic symptom assessment tools for AET requires providers to use discretion in determining which symptoms to discuss with survivors resulting in approaches that vary based on providers' discipline.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>There may be AET-specific provider communication skills and behaviors that promote effective patient-provider communication but additional research is needed to identify practices and policies that encourage these skills and behaviors among the many providers involved in survivorship care. Efforts are also needed to coordinate AET symptom assessment across providers, clarify providers' roles in symptom assessment, and determine best practices for AET symptom communication.
- Subjects
ADJUVANT treatment of cancer; BREAST cancer treatment; HORMONE therapy; PATIENT compliance; MEDICAL communication; AROMATASE inhibitors; BREAST tumors; COMBINED modality therapy; COMMUNICATION; FOCUS groups; HEALTH care teams; INTERPROFESSIONAL relations; PATIENT-professional relations; MEDICAL personnel; RESEARCH funding; THERAPEUTICS; PSYCHOLOGY; CANCER &; psychology
- Publication
Supportive Care in Cancer, 2017, Vol 25, Issue 4, p1055
- ISSN
0941-4355
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1007/s00520-016-3491-9