Unpacking cancer patients' preferences for information about their care.

Objective: Patient-centered decision making requires cancer patients be actively involved and feel sufficiently informed about their care, but patients' preferences for information are often unrecognized or unmet by their oncologist, particularly for more distressing topics. This study examined cancer patients' preferences for information about three care-related topics: (1) diagnostic information, (2) treatment costs, and (3) prognosis. We tested whether factors known to influence information preferences (psychological distress, control preferences, and financial distress) were differently associated with information preferences for each topic.

Patient Attitudes Regarding the Cost of Illness in Cancer Care.

Background And Purpose: The cost of illness in cancer care and the subsequent distress has attracted scrutiny. Guidelines recommend enhanced discussion of costs, assuming this will reduce both stress and costs. Little is known about patient attitudes about cost considerations influencing treatment decisions.

The development of a nursing assessment and symptom management clinic.

The Anne Arundel Medical Center (AAMC) DeCesaris Cancer Institute (DCI) began its participation in the ONS Foundation-supported Breast Cancer Care Quality Measures Set pilot study in 2010. The design and measures of the project were intriguing, paving a path for DCI to define quality measures and outcomes that were of value to the AAMC's oncology population and system. As the pilot program was getting underway, measurement instruments were selected for fatigue, distress, and sleep-wake disturbances.