Could knowledge of patient demographics facilitate a personalized approach to radiation therapy patient education?

Virtual integration of patient education in radiotherapy (VIPER)

“…Interpreters were not required for any of the patients who participated in virtual education in this pilot, however their inclusion would expected to be seamless given that patients’ had caregivers join from additional devices. Although these are all potential limitations of the current work, this strategy does advance patient education by offering individuals more choice in their care [2] , [3] .…”

“…However, conducting patient education traditionally during the first appointment in the radiotherapy pathway, typically CT-simulation, can be ineffective as it requires patients to learn new information while unwell, overwhelmed, and anxious [2] . A patient education needs assessment by Li et al, showed that most patients prefer to receive information about the radiotherapy pathway well in advance of the first radiotherapy appointment [3] . Ensuring appropriate and timely education is delivered to patients may reduce anxiety and distress prior to radiotherapy, and could resolve the associated impacts to patients and clinical resources.…”

“…However, alone they do not allow for patient-provider communication, assessing comprehension and the opportunity for patients to ask questions. The acceptability of these interventions can also vary widely with radiotherapy patient demographics and even individual preferences [3] . In comparison, RTT-led education delivered one-on-one remains a flexible, patient-centered approach [10] , that may be further enhanced with current technological advances and social norms.…”

A multi‐centre survey of New Zealand cancer patients' preferences for radiation treatment information

“…2 Patient information needs have also been shown to vary across different demographics such as age, education level and gender. 1,4,7 Health information needs can also vary based on sociocultural and economic factors such as race/ethnicity, and household income. 8,9 Being aware of personal factors and the implication, they can have on treatment information preference is important for This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.…”

“…providing individualised, patient-centred care. 7 Patient information needs are likely to change during their treatment pathway. 4 While information needs may decrease as patients progress through radiation treatment, several studies highlight these needs can remain high.…”