Improving shared decision-making in chronic lymphocytic leukemia through multidisciplinary education.

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Education
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Recent advancements in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) treatments offer personalized options.
• Patient preferences are increasingly important in treatment decisions for CLL.
• A gap exists in shared decision-making (SDM) and patient understanding of CLL.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a multilevel educational program's impact on CLL knowledge and SDM.
• To assess changes in patient activation, distress, and decision-making roles.
• To measure improvements in patient understanding of CLL prognosis and progression signs.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, quasi-experimental pre- and post-evaluation design.
• Multilevel education for patients, lay navigators, nurses/APPs, and physicians.
• Assessment of patient activation, distress, decision-making perception, satisfaction, and CLL knowledge.

Main Results:

• Trends toward improved patient activation (68% to 76%) and desire for SDM (47% to 67%).
• Increased patient understanding of CLL incurability (80% to 90%) and progression signs (64% to 76%).
• Significant increase in patient satisfaction with oncologist explanations (83% to 95%, p=.03); improved knowledge in navigators and nurses/APPs.

Conclusions:

• The educational program showed promising trends in enhancing patient engagement, prognostic awareness, and SDM in CLL care.
• Further research with larger samples is needed to confirm these findings.
• Opportunities remain to further optimize SDM and patient involvement in CLL treatment decisions.