Feasibility of a Team Based Prognosis and Treatment Goal Discussion (T-PAT) with Women Diagnosed with Advanced Breast Cancer

Many clinicians report that delivering information regarding worsening or poor prognosis to patients and family members is a challenging task that does not always leave patients with a realistic understanding of treatment goals. [1 –7] Observations of communication during prognosis discussions confirm these claims, describing clinicians’ language as vague, dominated by treatment talk, and very brief in duration. [8–12] Although patient preferences vary concerning desire for explicit prognostic information, as well as for preferred aggressiveness of care, these topics are typically undiscussed.

Source: Patient Education and Counseling - August 11, 2018 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Mary M. Step, Gretchen A. Ferber, Catherine Downs-Holmes, Paula Silverman Source Type: research