Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 3, 2025

E-Patient Counseling Trial E-PACO: Computer Based Education versus Nurse Counseling for Patients to Prepare for Colonoscopy
Published on: August 1, 2019
Efficacy of a dyadic intervention to improve communication between patients with cancer and their caregivers: A
Julien Tiete1, Nicole Delvaux1, Aurore Liénard2
1Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Education, 50 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt, Brussels, Belgium; Hôpital Erasme, Service de Psychologie, 808 Route de Lennik, Brussels, Belgium.
Objective:
Cancer-related communication is critical for patients' and caregivers' adaptation to illness. This randomized pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of a specific dyadic intervention to improve communication.
Methods:
A four weekly-session intervention was developed to reinforce cancer-related patient-caregiver communication. Patients receiving treatment for any diagnosed cancer, and their caregivers, were recruited from two oncology clinics in Belgium. Sixty-four patient-caregiver dyads were assigned randomly to intervention and waitlist groups. Cancer-related dyadic communication, dyadic coping and emotional distress were assessed at baseline and post-intervention.
Results:
The intervention attrition rate was 6 %. Linear mixed models were performed on 60 dyads. Significant two-way group × time interaction indicated improvement in participants' cancer-related dyadic communication frequency (β = -1.30; SE = 0.31; p = .004), self-efficacy (β = -10.03; SE = 3.90; p = .011) and dyadic coping (β = -5.93; SE = 2.73; p = .046) after the intervention.
Conclusion:
These results indicate that the brief dyadic communication intervention is feasible and acceptable, and show preliminary evidence of efficacy.
Practice Implications:
Encouraging patients and caregivers to discuss personal cancer-related concerns may improve their ability to cope with the illness together.
Related Concept Videos
Role of Communication in the Nursing Process II: Planning and Implementation
Techniques of Therapeutic Communication II: Focusing, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
This therapeutic technique can also be used when a patient brings up pertinent information during a health-related conversation. The...
Therapeutic Communication
Verbal communication depends on language or a prescribed way of using words so that people can share information effectively. The critical aspects of verbal...
Treatment Resistant Cancers
Techniques of therapeutic communication I: Active Listening, Sharing Observations, Validation, and Using Touch
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction. Social interaction has no goal or purpose and consists of casual information sharing, whereas therapeutic communication has a plan or purpose for the conversation. Therapeutic...
Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...