Should we be talking about guidelines with patients? A qualitative analysis in metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Little data exist on perceptions of guideline-based care in oncology. This qualitative analysis describes patients' and oncologists' views on the value of guideline-based care as well as discussing guidelines when making metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatment decisions.

Patients And Methods: In-person interviews completed with MBC patients and community oncologists and focus groups with academic oncologists were audio-recorded and transcribed.

"I'd Want to Know, Because a Year's Not a Long Time to Prepare for a Death": Role of Prognostic Information in Shared Decision Making among Women with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Increasing emphasis on patient-centered care has led to highlighted importance of shared decision making, which better aligns medical decisions with patient care preferences. Effective shared decision making in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatment requires prognostic understanding, without which patients may receive treatment inconsistent with personal preferences. To assess MBC patient and provider perspectives on the role of prognostic information in treatment decision making.

Trust but Verify: Exploring the Role of Treatment-Related Information and Patient-Physician Trust in Shared Decision Making Among Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

An ideal model for decision making in cancer is shared decision-making (SDM). Primary facilitators in this model are information-seeking about treatment options and patient-physician trust. Previous studies have investigated the role of each of these parameters individually.

Disparities in Hospice Utilization for Older Cancer Patients Living in the Deep South.

Context: Hospice utilization is an end-of-life quality indicator. The Deep South has known disparities in palliative care that may affect hospice utilization.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the association among Deep South patient and hospital characteristics and hospice utilization.

What Is Important When Making Treatment Decisions in Metastatic Breast Cancer? A Qualitative Analysis of Decision-Making in Patients and Oncologists.

Background: Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is an ideal environment for shared decision-making because of the large number of guideline-based treatment options with similar efficacy but different toxicity profiles. This qualitative analysis describes patient and provider factors that influence decision-making in treatment of MBC.

Materials And Methods: Patients and community oncologists completed in-person interviews.

How family caregivers of persons with advanced cancer assist with upstream healthcare decision-making: A qualitative study.

Aims: Numerous healthcare decisions are faced by persons with advanced cancer from diagnosis to end-of-life. The family caregiver role in these decisions has focused on being a surrogate decision-maker, however, little is known about the caregiver's role in supporting upstream patient decision-making. We aimed to describe the roles of family caregivers in assisting community-dwelling advanced cancer patients with healthcare decision-making across settings and contexts.

Surrogates' Perceptions of Service Quality While Making Decisions for ICU Patients.

A qualitative secondary analysis was undertaken to identify aspects of health care service quality in an intensive care unit from the perspective of surrogate decision makers ( = 19) who were making decisions for relatives at end of life. Directed content analysis was guided by the Donabedian model of health care quality. Nineteen participants averaged 59 years old and were over half female (53%) and patients' spouses (53%) and adult children (32%).

Lay navigation across the cancer continuum for older cancer survivors: Equally beneficial for Black and White survivors?

Objectives: The Patient Care Connect Program (PCCP), through lay navigators' distress assessments and assistance, was shown to lower healthcare utilization and costs in older cancer survivors. PCCP benefits and assistance needs for disadvantaged minorities (e.g.

Factors Associated with Family Caregivers' Confidence in Future Surrogate Decision Making for Persons with Cancer.

Improving family caregiver preparation for surrogate decision making is a critical priority. Determine a parsimonious set of intrapersonal factors associated with family caregivers' confidence in making future medical decisions for their relatives with cancer. Cross-sectional mail survey.

Incongruence between women's survey- and interview-determined decision control preferences: A mixed methods study of decision-making in metastatic breast cancer.

Objective: Women with metastatic breast cancer face numerous, complex treatment and advance care planning (ACP) decisions. Our aim was to develop a better understanding of women with metastatic breast cancer's decision-making preferences overtime and relative to specific types of decisions.

Methods: Convergent, parallel mixed-methods study.

Mind-Body Interventions for Individuals With Heart Failure: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials.

Background: The effects of mind-body interventions (MBIs) (eg, Tai Chi, yoga, meditation) for individuals with heart failure (HF) have not been systematically evaluated.

Methods And Results: We performed a systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effects of MBIs in HF. We extracted participant characteristics, MBI procedure, outcomes assessed, and main results of English-language RCTs before October 2016.

"An addendum to breast cancer": the triple negative experience.

Purpose: The triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype, known to be aggressive with high recurrence and mortality rates, disproportionately affects African-Americans, young women, and BRCA1 carriers. TNBC does not respond to hormonal or biologic agents, limiting treatment options. The unique characteristics of the disease and the populations disproportionately affected indicate a need to examine the responses of this group.

Biologic, demographic, and social factors affecting triple negative breast cancer outcomes.

Background: Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive breast cancer subtype that disproportionately affects women who are African American, younger, or carriers of the BRCA1 gene. No targeted treatments exist for the disease, which has distinct features and presents unique challenges to patients who have been diagnosed with it.

Objectives: TNBC is reviewed in this article according to incidence, tumor grade, stage of diagnosis, biologic and social risk factors, mortality, and treatment.

Causal attribution among cancer survivors of the 10 most common cancers.

In an attempt to understand and cope with their diagnosis, individuals with cancer may develop beliefs about the cause of their illness and these causal attributions may impact psychosocial adjustment. Connecticut participants (N = 775) from the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors-I completed a self-administered questionnaire assessing beliefs of the cause of their cancer and if they had contemplated the question "why me?" regarding their diagnosis. Written causal belief responses were coded into thematic categories and defined as either in (modifiable) or out (fixed) of an individual's control.

Unnecessary arrhythmia monitoring and underutilization of ischemia and QT interval monitoring in current clinical practice: baseline results of the Practical Use of the Latest Standards for Electrocardiography trial.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the appropriate use of arrhythmia, ischemia, and QTc interval monitoring in the acute care setting.

Methods: We analyzed baseline data of the Practical Use of the Latest Standards for Electrocardiography (PULSE) trial, a multisite randomized clinical trial evaluating the effect of implementing electrocardiographic monitoring practice standards. Research nurses reviewed medical records for indications for monitoring and observed if arrhythmia, ischemia, and QT interval monitoring was being done on 1816 patients in 17 hospitals.