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Research‐based theatre represents an innovative approach to disseminating the results of qualitative studies. In this paper, we provide a rationale for the importance of research‐based theatre and also review previous work that has been done in the area. We then describe our experience in transforming research data into a dramatic production, Handle with Care? This production was based on two studies – one with women with metastatic breast cancer, and the other with medical oncologists treating breast cancer patients. Results from ongoing assessment of the project are reported. We discuss some of the factors related to the success of Handle with Care? and reflect on what has been learned about the process of developing dramatic pieces related to serious illness.

Narrative and dramatic forms are viable ways to communicate vital information about the possibilities for professionals to be helpful to patients--and they are the wave of the future for educational and dissemination practices.

Social science researchers have fruitfully used a range of conceptualizations of "performance": as a metaphor for social life, a way of vivifying research findings, and a form of scholarly representation. In this article, the researchers consider performance in its hermeneutic sense, as a way of generating meaning. The drama Handle With Care? Living With Metastatic Breast Cancer was created by a research team, a theater troupe, and women with breast cancer. The researchers employ an interpretive phenomenologicalframework to explore interviews with women with breast cancer involved in creating Handle With Care? The performative context in which the drama developed allowed certain illness meanings to emerge, intensify, and shift. The article also considers ethical dilemmas surfaced by this project.

This report describes a 2-year prospective, longitudinal survey of attending physicians in 3 clinical areas (family medicine, general pediatrics, internal medicine) who experienced a transition from a homegrown electronic health record (EHR) to a vendor EHR. Participants were already highly familiar with using EHRs. Data were collected 1 month before and 3, 6, 13, and 25 months post implementation. Our primary goal was to determine if perceptions followed a J-curve pattern in which they initially dropped but eventually surpassed baseline measures. A J-curve was not found for any measures, including workflow, safety, communication, and satisfaction. Only the reminders and alerts measure dropped and then returned to baseline (U-curve); a few remained flatlined. Most dropped and remained below baseline (L-curve). The only measure that remained above baseline was documenting in the exam room with the patient. This study adds to the literature about current controversies surrounding EHR adoption and physician satisfaction.

This paper reports on the results of a survey of utilization of professional supportive care services by women with breast cancer, and on patterns of differential service utilization by sub-groups of patients. Study participants were women with invasive breast cancer diagnosed 23-36 months prior to contact about the study, and randomly selected from the Ontario Cancer Registry. From among 1,119 eligible women sent survey questionnaires, 731 returned completed questionnaires (65%). A total of 31% of respondents reported accessing one or more of the following professionals: social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, dietitian, physiotherapist. Among those who responded to a question about whether they would have liked specific services, 34% reported that there was at least one professional supportive care service they would have liked to use, but were unable to access. Factors shown to be related to greater utilization of services included: younger age, higher household income, employed or student status, private health insurance coverage, and having received chemotherapy. Overall, there was a surprisingly low utilization of professional specialized supportive care services among women with breast cancer. Policy implications include finding strategies to better inform cancer patients about existing services, and ensuring that a core set of services are available to all patients.

Unconventional therapies have become increasingly popular with health care consumers in recent years. As patients seek information and attempt to make decisions about unconventional therapies, they often turn to nurses, asking the nurse's opinion about certain therapies. The nurse's attitudes and beliefs about unconventional therapies quite likely will influence the response to the patient's inquiries. This article represents the findings of interviews with 20 nurses regarding their perspectives on unconventional therapies. Without exception, all nurses who were interviewed emphasized that information regarding unconventional therapies needs to be available readily for both patients and health care professionals. Other themes identified in the interviews included the following: Various people use unconventional therapies; people seek unconventional therapies for a variety of reasons; communication about unconventional therapies needs to be open, and a place should be found for unconventional therapies. The interviewees saw a clearly defined role for nurses regarding unconventional therapies.

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