Patient Communication Training Intervention

Cancer Clinical Trial

Official title:

A Feasibility Study of a Patient Communication Training Intervention

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT00933855
• Other study ID #: 08-148
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: July 1, 2009
• Last updated: November 22, 2011
• Start date: June 2009
• Est. completion date: June 2011

Study information

• Verified date: November 2011
• Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to test a class for Queens Cancer Center patients. We want to find out if patients think this program is helpful.

Description:

It is well accepted that effective physician-patient communication is associated with important outcomes. Communication training interventions for oncologists and other clinicians has been shown to be effective in changing behavior and improving outcomes. Less attention has been given to improving cancer patients' communication with their physicians. Most of the studies in this area have been focused on activating patients through training them to ask questions. Although question asking is a vitally important patient communication skill, other patient communication skills should also be encouraged for patients.

In the primary care setting, studies on patient communication training have focused on three additional communication skills to asking questions: presenting information, checking understanding, and expressing concerns. The goal of this study is to pilot test a patient communication workshop that builds on the work done in the primary care setting, offering an intervention that focuses on a broad range of skills. The proposal aims to improve communication skills in an underserved population, which may be a factor contributing to minority health disparities.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 32
• Est. completion date: June 2011
• Est. primary completion date: June 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients seeing a physician at Queens Cancer Center (not family members or partners)

• Able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 18 years of age (as per self-report)

• Cognitive or physical impairment rendering patients incapable of providing informed consent to participate in the study.

• As the workshop will be given in English and the measures are all written in English, subjects who are not fluent in English will be excluded.

Study Design

Observational Model: Cohort, Time Perspective: Prospective

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Cancer

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Questionnaires and training workshop
We will recruit a minimum of 1 and maximum of 12 patients for each workshop. The workshop will follow the approximate time table below: 10 minutes: Sign-in, welcome and introductions 25 minutes: Didactic session, videos and discussion 10 minutes: Group discussion 15 minutes: Closing plenary and final assessment

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Queens Hospital Center	Jamaica	New York

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	Queens Health Network

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	To determine the feasibility of a patient communication training intervention.		2 years	No
Secondary	To attain preliminary data on the acceptability of the intervention through patient ratings of effectiveness and usefulness of the intervention.		2 years	No
Secondary	To attain preliminary data on the effect of a patient communication training intervention on patients' self-reported communication behaviors.		2 years	No

External Links

•   Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center