Patterns and barriers in information disclosure between health care professionals and relatives with cancer patients in Greek society

Abstract

The issue of whether, how and how much to tell cancer patients concerning diagnosis is still approached in various ways across different countries and cultures. The health care team-patient relationship is a triangle consisting of the health care professionals, the patient and the family. Each part supports the other two and is affected by the changes that happen in the triangle. The objective of the study was to investigate the communication context through which health care professionals and families with cancer patients interact. In Greece, physicians have the tendency to tell the truth more often today than in the past, although the majority still disclose the truth to the next of kin. Nurses in Greece are considered to be the most suitable health care professionals for the patients to share their thoughts and feelings with. Nevertheless, the decision on information disclosure lies with the treating physician. In Greek society the patient's family plays an important role in the provision of care and information disclosure. They often decide on the patient's behalf.

Communicating bad news: an integrative review of the nursing literature

“…A Chinese article (13) corroborates the Greek article (12) regarding lack of autonomy of the nurse in the communication of bad news. The authors report that none of the nurses interviewed considered they were the appropriate professional to inform patients of the diagnosis.…”

“…In a Greek study (12) , the authors report that nurses lack the necessary skills and/or are not encouraged to perform this task and are often not given permission to do so by the doctors. The latter, in turn, also do not receive adequate training in the schools of medicine regarding the communication of bad news.…”

“…It is noteworthy in the studies described (12)(13) that the breaking of bad news was culturally presented as an activity attributed to the medical professional and preferably accepted by the patients.…”

Cancer Care in Countries and Societies in Transition

“…Further, religion plays a vital role in determining patients' response to truth about their condition [24]. Also, religious, emotional, and psychological support ameliorate the impact of bad news and help patients to adjust to the reality of their situation [25].…”

Factors influencing the attitudes and behaviors of oncologists regarding the truthful disclosure of information to patients with advanced and incurable cancer

“…Universally, recent survey data of patient preferences demonstrate substantial heterogeneity of preferences that are not individually predictable by geography, culture, age, race, sex or educational level [11][12][13][14][15][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]39]. Furthermore, studies that have evaluated the concordance between patient preferences on one hand and family member perception of patient preferences on the other hand have demonstrated that family members commonly underestimate the amount of information that patients desire about their condition and the degree to which they want to be involved in decisionmaking [32,37,[40][41][42][43][44].…”