[In search of open minds and shared consent – Information, treatment options and postoperative care from the patient’s perspective]

[In search of open minds and shared consent – Information, treatment options and postoperative care from the patient’s perspective]
Ganz-Blättler U
Therapeutische Umschau. Revue Therapeutique, 1 April 2021; 78(3) pp 149-157
Abstract
This paper addresses knowledge gaps which are prone to handicap the ongoing communication process between medical / care personnel and patients of breast cancer, due to everyday routine and presumed lack of time. The respective qualitative studies do point to divergent expectations with regards to medical consultations and indicate that patients’ satisfaction with therapeutic measures, which were decided in advance, might be improved. Three exemplary aspects of doctor-patient communication are then looked at closer: first the variety of treatment options offered, second the risk of expressing unconscious bias regarding patients’ physical appearance and identity, and third the increasingly acknowledged desire of breast cancer patients to consult (… additionally, not alternatively) with other patients that are, or were previously affected by breast cancer and confronted with the decisions this condition entails.

Editor’s note: This is a German language publication.