A web-based interactive tool to improve breast cancer patient centredness

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Medical Informatics
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Personalized medicine requires integrating clinical and psychological patient data.
• Physician time constraints limit collecting comprehensive patient psychological information.
• Patient psychological data can improve communication, understanding, involvement, and empowerment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effect of an interactive empowerment tool (IEm) on the breast cancer patient-physician experience.
• To assess if the IEm tool increases patient empowerment by providing physicians with personalized patient profiles and interaction recommendations.
• To enhance patient-physician communication and patient participation in the therapeutic process.

Main Methods:

• A two-arm randomized controlled trial involving 100 adult breast cancer patients.
• Patients completed the ALGA-BC questionnaire, a validated instrument for physical and psychological characteristics.
• The IEm tool analyzed questionnaire data in real-time, providing physician recommendations before patient encounters.

Main Results:

• Patients in the intervention group received personalized profiles and recommendations via the IEm tool.
• The control group completed the questionnaire but did not receive physician-facing tool benefits.
• The study design aims to improve patient empowerment and personalized care through enhanced communication.

Conclusions:

• The interactive empowerment tool (IEm) has the potential to significantly improve the patient-physician relationship in breast cancer care.
• Personalized patient profiles and tailored communication strategies can lead to increased patient empowerment and involvement.
• This approach supports the advancement of personalized medicine by integrating psychological dimensions into clinical practice.