Training for Medical Oncologists on Shared Decision-Making About Palliative Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

CONCLUSION: Training medical oncologists in SDM about palliative systemic treatment improves their performance in simulated consultations. The next step is to examine the effect of such training on SDM in clinical practice and on patient outcomes.
IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Systemic treatment for advanced cancer offers uncertain and sometimes limited benefit, while the burden can be high. Hence, applying the premises of shared decision-making (SDM) is recommended. SDM is increasingly advocated based on the ethical imperative to provide patient-centered care and the increasing evidence for beneficial patient outcomes. Few studies examined the effectiveness of SDM training in robust designs. This randomized controlled trial demonstrated that SDM training (10 hours) improves oncologists' performance in consultations with standardized patients. The next step is to examine the effect of training on oncologists' performance and patient outcomes in clinical practice.
PMID: 29959285 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Source: The Oncologist - June 29, 2018 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Henselmans I, van Laarhoven HWM, de Haes HCJM, Tokat M, Engelhardt EG, van Maarschalkerweerd PEA, Kunneman M, Ottevanger PB, Dohmen SE, Creemers GJ, Sommeijer DW, de Vos FYFL, Smets EMA Tags: Oncologist Source Type: research