Tools to facilitate communication during physician‐patient consultations in cancer care: An overview of systematic reviews

Abstract

Tools have been developed to facilitate communication and support information exchange between people diagnosed with cancer and their physicians. Patient‐reported outcome measures, question prompt lists, patient‐held records, tape recordings of consultations, decision aids, and survivorship care plans have all been promoted as potential tools, and there is extensive literature exploring their impact on patient outcomes. Eleven systematic reviews of studies evaluating tools to facilitate patient‐physician communication were reviewed and summarized in this overview of systematic reviews. Across the systematic reviews, 87 publications reported on 84 primary studies involving 15,381 participants. Routine use of patient‐reported outcome measures and feedback of results to clinicians can improve pain management, physician‐patient communication, and symptom detection and control; increase utilization of supportive care; and increase patient involvement in care. Question prompt lists can increase the number of questions asked by patients without increasing consultation length and may encourage them to reflect and plan questions before the consultation. There is limited benefit in audio recording consultations or using patient‐held records during consultations. Physicians should be supported by adequately resourced health services to respond effectively to the range of clinical and broader patient needs identified through the routine use of tools to facilitate communication.

End‐of‐life care in rural and regional Australia: Patients’, carers’ and general practitioners’ expectations of the role of general practice, and the degree to which they were met

“…While patients do re‐establish their relationship with GPs after completion of chemotherapy (Brennan, Butow, Marven, Spillane, & Boyle, 2011; Lang et al., 2017), our research identified the importance of a highly engaged, motivated and well‐informed GP for rural patients to be cared for at the EOL in their own community. Patients’ clinical and social needs could be better identified through the routine use of tools to facilitate physician–patient communication in cancer care, including EOL care (Licqurish et al., 2019).…”

Patient-reported outcomes on familial amyloid polyneuropathy (FAP)

“…The health care system has increased efforts to provide more patient-centered care by customizing care to individual patient's needs [21,22]. Thus, understanding what matters most to patients is unique and of significant value.…”

Patients' and Clinicians' Perceptions of Clinician-Expressed Empathy in Advanced Cancer Consultations and Associations with Patient Outcomes

“…Question prompt lists (QPL) to facilitate question-asking behavior of patients and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to facilitate better insight into patients' well-being and needs have turned out to be effective in improving clinician-patient communication in oncology, leading to favorable patient outcomes. [52][53][54][55] QPLs and PROMs designed to encourage patients to express their perceptions, needs, and preferences regarding their doctors' empathic communication might increase clinicians' awareness as to how they are perceived and how they could optimize their use of empathy. Future research could focus on the possibility of designing a tool to help elicit emotional needs of patients with focus on clinicians' empathy use in advanced cancer consultations and investigate its potential to improve patient-perceived empathy and ultimately patient outcomes.…”