ComCancer: Use of Let's Discuss Health Website by Patients With Prostate Cancer Undergoing Radiation Oncology Treatment

Summary

In Canada, the prevalence of cancer is growing and contributes significantly to health costs. The prevention and treatment of cancer is a major concern of our health system. Many men with prostate cancer develop psychological distress. The emotional consequences of a cancer diagnosis and its treatments can prevent patients from communicating effectively with their healthcare team. It is recognized that the quality of communication between cancer patients and their caregivers plays an important role in the management of their disease. However, few tools are being developed to help clinicians and patients better communicate and decrease patients' psychological distress. Let's Discuss Health (www.discutonssante.ca) is a French-language website that offers several tools to support collaboration between caregivers and cancer patients.

The objectives of this research project are to assess the experience of using the Let's Discuss Health website and the impact of its use on the quality of communication between radiation oncologists and patients, the level of distress of patients with prostate cancer, recall of the information discussed as well as adherence to the trajectory in radiation oncology.

The project will take place in three radiation oncology centers in Quebec. Two groups of prostate cancer patients will be recruited. Patients in the first group will be assessed on the basis of regular consultations and those in the second group will be encouraged to prepare for their medical visits using the Let's Discuss Health website. Patients and their caregivers will answer short questionnaires before and after four targeted consultations (initial visit, mid-treatment visit, end-of-treatment visit and 3-month post-treatment visit). Focus groups will also be organized to explore the impact of the website.

This project offers the potential to transform clinical practices in radiation oncology to reduce the burden of cancer and improve the quality of care offered to patients with cancer.

Conditions

• Prostatic Neoplasms
• Psychological Distress
• Physician-Patient Relations
• Communication
• Patient Participation
• Adherence, Treatment
• Men

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Let's Discuss Health Group

Use of the Let's Discuss Health website to prepare four medical encounters with the radiation oncologist throughout the radiation care trajectory.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hopital Cité de la Santé

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• CHU de Quebec-Universite Laval

  collaborator OTHER

• Ciusss de L'Est de l'Île de Montréal

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Marie-Thérèse Lussier, MD, MSc · Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal

• Marie-Andrée Fortin, MD · Centre intégré de cancérologie de Laval

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

SEQUENTIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

MALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-03-10

Primary Completion

2024-11-30

Completion

2024-11-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations