Developing an aftercare decision aid: assessing health professionals' and patients' preferences

Linda Klaassen*, Carmen Dirksen, Liesbeth Boersma, Ciska Hoving, B-Beslist-Grp

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Personalising aftercare for curatively treated breast cancer patients is expected to improve patient satisfaction with care. A patient decision aid can support women in making decisions about their aftercare trajectory, but is currently not available. The aim of this study was to assess the needs of patients and health professionals with regard to an aftercare decision aid to systematically develop such a decision aid. Focus groups with patients and individual interviews with health professionals were digitally recorded and coded using the Framework analysis. Although most patients felt few aftercare options were available to them, health professionals reported to provide various options on the patients' request. Patients reported difficulty in expressing their need for options to their health professional. Although most patients were unfamiliar with decision aids, the majority preferred a paper-based patient decision aid, while most health professionals preferred an online tool. The practical implications for the intended patient decision aid are: that a digital tool with paper-based element should be developed, the patient decision aid should facilitate both rational and intuitive processes and should provide insight in patients' preferences concerning aftercare to discuss these explicitly.
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere12730
Number of pages11
JournalEuropean Journal of Cancer Care
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2018

Keywords

  • aftercare
  • breast cancer
  • decisional processes
  • health care professionals
  • patient decision aid
  • patients
  • DISCRETE-CHOICE EXPERIMENT
  • BREAST-CANCER-TREATMENT
  • FOLLOW-UP
  • CARE
  • COMMUNICATION
  • DELIBERATION
  • MANAGEMENT
  • DIFFICULT
  • CRITERIA
  • SUPPORT
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Male
  • Health Services Needs and Demand
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Decision Making
  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Decision Support Techniques
  • Focus Groups
  • Patient Preference
  • Aftercare
  • Aged
  • Breast Neoplasms/therapy

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