Identifying patients with a history of ovarian cancer for referral for genetic counselling: non-randomised comparison of two case-finding strategies in primary care.

Background: Recent guidelines recommend genetic counselling and DNA testing (GCT) for patients with ovarian cancer and survivors of ovarian cancer. Finding survivors of ovarian cancer is challenging. Detecting and referring them for GCT via primary care, to allow proper screening recommendations for patients and their family, may be a solution.

Does training general practitioners to elicit patients' illness representations and action plans influence their communication as a whole?

Objective: To examine whether the discussion of illness representations and action plans during medical encounters affects the way patients and general practitioners (GPs) communicate.

Methods: In a quasi-experimental design, 10 GPs first performed care-as-usual conversations with patients. After a 6 h training they performed consultations either emphasizing patients' illness representations or action plans.

Has patients' involvement in the decision-making process changed over time?

Objective: To get insight into the changes over time of patients' involvement in the decision-making process, and into the factors contributing to patients' involvement and general practitioners' (GPs) communication related to the Medical Treatment Act (MTA) issues: information about treatment, other available treatments and side-effects; informed decision making; asking consent for treatment.

Background: Societal developments have changed the doctor-patient relationship recently. Informed decision making has become a central topic.