NCRI 2016 | Group-based interventions for men with prostate cancer

Penny Schofield, PhD of Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia gives an overview of her presentation focused on psycho-educational intervention for men with prostate cancer receiving radiotherapy. A traditional model of consultation involves 1 nurse and 1 patient. Dr Schofield tested the effect of a group consultation with up to 8 patients, which reduced the time required for a consultation from 8 hours to 1 hour. Patients, who had a group-based consultation reported lower level of depressive symptoms, than men who had individual-based consultation. This could be due to the fact that patients in the group-based setting formed their own support group and supported themselves through the process of receiving radiotherapy, but also into survivorship. A group-based education framework could have a potential for greater benefits to be accrued to patients. In addition, Dr Schofield mentions a study focused on audio recordings for immigrants who do not speak English. In consultations patients routinely forget a lot of information that is delivered by the clinician. In English-speaking populations there is evidence that providing patients with an audio recording improves their recall, understanding, and engagement with treatment decisions. Recorded at the 2016 National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference in Liverpool, UK.