Interventions for Maximizing Quality Communication in Cancer Care: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews

• Published in: Journal of global oncology 2018-10, Vol.4 (Supplement 2), p.99-99s
• Main Authors: Licqurish, S., Pattuwage, L., Chima, S., Qama, A., Emery, J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2378-9506; 2378-9506
• DOI: 10.1200/jgo.18.48000

Abstract only Background: Clinician communication has shown to influence cancer patients' perception of care and satisfaction. Effective communication is therefore a critical aspect of patient-centered care. Health services should be implementing evidence-based communication interventions to improve the provision of cancer care to patients. Aim: We conducted a systematic review of the literature with the aim to identify effective communication strategies and/or interventions to improve clinician-patient communication. Methods: Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Library and CINAHL Plus) were searched for relevant citations from 2005 until October 2015 using search terms related to “cancer”, “information” and “communication”. Titles and abstracts were evaluated by two independent reviewers. Selected full text publications were assessed against the eligibility criteria. Quality was assessed using the AMSTAR guidelines and GRADE. Due to the enormity of the literature, only systematic reviews were included. Results: The database search yielded 2934 unique citations, of which 198 full texts were retrieved. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 41 systematic reviews were included. The included studies were broadly categorized under six major themes: e-health, technological and telephone-based interventions (n=9); patient education and tools (n=5); communication training (n=9); education interventions to improve cancer pain (n=6); tools to facilitate patients' participation in care/decision making (n=8); nurse delivered interventions (n=6). Conclusion: There are an enormous number of studies of communication interventions for cancer patients. The quality of the evidence to support some of these interventions is low; whereas other interventions have stronger evidence of effectiveness. Therefore, health services and clinicians should carefully consider which interventions they choose to implement. The recommendations from this review will assist clinicians and health services to choose evidence-based interventions which can improve care provision and/or patient outcomes.