Publications by authors named "Yves Libert"
Purpose Of Review: The evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions aiming to improve ACP uptake appears mixed. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize findings from recent RCTs assessing the efficacy of interventions designed to increase ACP uptake in cancer care.
Recent Findings: The PubMed database was searched for studies published between 2021 and 2023.
Purpose Of Review: Supportive care in oncology has evolved alongside effective anticancer treatments since the 1960s, beginning with the advent of chemotherapy for acute leukemia. It was initially focused on managing treatment-induced complications, and expanded to address broader aspects of patient well being; the scope of supportive care needs to be periodically re-assessed.
Recent Findings: Early palliative care interventions, and more recently advance care planning emerged as vital components, improving patient outcomes and quality of life.
Purpose Of Review: Cancer patients' communication with their relatives and healthcare professionals (HCPs) is essential for advance care planning (ACP). The purpose of this scoping review was to synthesize recent research findings about factors enabling cancer patients', their relatives', and physicians' communication about ACP, and to propose recommendations for future ACP implementation in cancer care.
Recent Findings: This review confirmed the importance of aspects of the cancer care context (i.
Purpose: This study reports the short- and mid-term benefits of an eight-session emotion and self-regulation group intervention ecologically boosted through daily app-based prompts. The intervention was designed for breast cancer patients in the early survivorship period meeting criteria for clinical levels of psychological symptoms.
Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to the immediate intervention arm (n = 61; intervention received immediately) or to the delayed intervention arm (n = 59; intervention received 5 months later).
Objective: This randomized study assesses behavioral, cognitive, emotional and physiological changes resulting from a communication skills training (CST) for physicians caring for cancer patients.
Methods: Medical specialists (N = 90) were randomly assigned in groups to complete a manualized 30-h CST or to a waiting list. Assessments included behavioral (communication skills), cognitive (self-efficacy, sense of mastery), emotional (perceived stress) and physiological (heart rate) measures.
Objectives: This descriptive study assesses how physicians' decisional conflict influences their ability to address treatment outcomes (TOs) in a decision-making encounter with an advanced-stage cancer simulated patient (SP).
Methods: Physicians (N = 138) performed a decision-making encounter with the SP trained to ask for TOs information. The physicians' decisional conflict regarding patients' cancer treatments in general was assessed with the General Decisional Conflict Scale (Gen-DCS).
Background: Decision making with advanced cancer patients is often associated with decisional conflict regarding treatment outcomes. This longitudinal multicenter study investigated German physicians' course of decisional conflict during the decision-making process for a Simulated advanced-stage cancer Patient (SP). Results were compared to a matched sample of Belgian physicians.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Our first objective was to develop the Multi-Dimensional analysis of Patient Outcome Predictions (MD.POP), an interaction analysis system that assesses how HCPs discuss precisely and exclusively patient outcomes during medical encounters. The second objective was to study its interrater reliability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Although previous studies have reported the efficacy of communication skills training (CST) programs, specific training addressing communication about uncertainty and hope in oncology has not yet been studied. This paper describes the study protocol of a randomized controlled trial assessing the efficacy of a CST program aimed at improving physician ability to communicate about uncertainty and hope in encounters with cancer patients.
Methods/design: Physician participants will be randomly assigned in groups (n = 3/group) to a 30-h CST program (experimental group) or to a waiting list (control group).
Objectives: Physicians' characteristics that influence their communication performance (CP) in decision-making encounters have been rarely studied. In this longitudinal study, predictors of physicians' CP were investigated with a simulated advanced-stage cancer patient.
Methods: Physicians (n=85) performed a decision-making encounter with a simulated patient (SP).
Objective: Despite the well-known negative impacts of cancer and anticancer therapies on cognitive performance, little is known about the cognitive compensatory processes of older patients with cancer. This study was designed to investigate the cognitive compensatory processes of older, clinically fit patients with hematologic malignancies undergoing chemotherapy.
Methods: We assessed 89 consecutive patients (age ≥ 65 y) without severe cognitive impairment and 89 age-, sex-, and education level-matched healthy controls.
Objective: To compare in a multicenter randomized controlled trial the benefits in terms of anxiety regulation of a 15-session single-component group intervention (SGI) based on support with those of a 15-session multiple-component structured manualized group intervention (MGI) combining support with cognitive-behavioral and hypnosis components.
Methods: Patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer were randomly assigned at the beginning of the survivorship period to the SGI (n = 83) or MGI (n = 87). Anxiety regulation was assessed, before and after group interventions, through an anxiety regulation task designed to assess their ability to regulate anxiety psychologically (anxiety levels) and physiologically (heart rates).
Objective: To test and compare the sensitivity to change of a communication analysis software, the LaComm 1.0, to the CRCWEM's using data from a randomized study assessing the efficacy of a communication skills training program designed for nurses.
Methods: The program assessment included the recording of two-person simulated interviews at baseline and after training or 3 months later.
Introduction: Dementia is a known predictor of shorter survival times in older cancer patients. However, no empirical evidence is available to determine how much a cognitive impairment shortens survival in older patients when cancer treatment is initiated.
Purpose: To longitudinally investigate how much a cognitive impairment detected at the initiation of cancer treatment influences survival of older patients during a two-year follow-up duration and to compare the predictive value of a cognitive impairment on patients survival with the predictive value of other vulnerabilities associated with older age.
Background And Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a 38-h communication skills training program designed for multidisciplinary radiotherapy teams.
Materials And Methods: Four radiotherapy teams were randomly assigned to a training program or to a waiting list. Assessments were scheduled at baseline (T1) and then after the training was completed or four months later (T2), respectively.
Objective: Although cancer patients frequently experience self-perceived burden to others, this perception has not been enough studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of self-perceived burden to the primary caregiver (SPB-PC) and associated factors in an older patient population with hematologic malignancies at the time of chemotherapy initiation.
Methods: In total, 166 consecutive patients with hematologic malignancies aged ≥65 years were recruited at the time of chemotherapy initiation.
Background: Little is known about the reliability of G8 screening tool and the prognostic value of clinical parameters within the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) in clinically fit older patients with hematological malignancies.
Materials And Methods: This study was performed to assess the reliability of G8 as a screening tool and to determine the predictive value of CGA items in terms of 1-year overall survival (OS). G8 and CGA were proposed to 107 consecutive patients (65-89 years) with hematological malignancies assessed by their physicians as clinically fit, meaning not exhibiting geriatric syndromes and/or irreversible comorbidities significantly impairing their daily function, and thus able to receive chemotherapy.
Purpose: This study assessed the efficacy of a 38-hour communication skills training program designed to train a multidisciplinary radiotherapy team.
Methods: Four radiotherapy teams were randomly assigned to a training program or a waiting list. Assessments were scheduled at baseline and after training for the training group and at baseline and 4 months later for the waiting list group.
Background And Purpose: Patients may experience clinically relevant anxiety at their first radiotherapy (RT) sessions. To date, studies have not investigated during/around the RT simulation the key communication and communication-related predictors of this clinically relevant anxiety.
Material And Methods: Breast cancer patients (n=227) completed visual analog scale (VAS) assessments of anxiety before and after their first RT sessions.
Introduction: Little is known about elderly cancer inpatients' desire for psychological help.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether elderly cancer inpatients well informed about their diagnosis expressed a desire to receive formal psychological help at the start of their cancer treatment. The characteristics of the patients that sought help were examined.
Various studies highlight cognitive impairments in cancer patients. This paper proposes a review of longitudinal controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of interventions aiming to reduce these cognitive impairments. Longitudinal controlled studies evaluating the efficacy of interventions aiming to reduce cognitive impairments in adult cancer patients and published between 1993 and 2013 were identified, with the exception of studies that implied patients suffering from CNS tumor or metastasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To our knowledge, no study has specifically assessed the time course of anxiety during radiotherapy (RT). The objective of this study was to assess anxiety time courses in patients with non-metastatic breast cancer.
Material And Methods: This multicenter, descriptive longitudinal study included 213 consecutive patients with breast cancer who completed visual analog scales (VASs) assessing state anxiety before and after the RT simulation and the first and last five RT sessions.
Background: In cancer care, informal primary caregivers provide healthcare professionals with key information regarding patient difficulties. The aim of this study was to assess their ability to report cancer patients' physical, psychological, and social difficulties.
Methods: We recruited 208 consecutive patients and their informal primary caregivers in 10 oncology units.
Background And Purpose: Optimizing communication between radiotherapy team members and patients and between colleagues requires training. This study applies a randomized controlled design to assess the efficacy of a 38-h communication skills training program.
Material And Methods: Four radiotherapy teams were randomly assigned either to a training program or to a waiting list.