Geriatric Communication Skills Training Program for Oncology Clinicians

Overview

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the effects of a training program designed to help doctors communicate better with older patients and their caregivers.

Full Title of Study: “Geriatric Communication Skills Training Program for Oncology Clinicians to Improve Management of Care for Geriatrics Cancer Patients”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Non-Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Other
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: February 16, 2024

Interventions

  • Behavioral: Self-Efficacy Assessment
    • Health Care Professional’s self-efficacy will be assessed by 12 ratings of self-reported confidence from (1) “strongly disagree” to (5) “strongly agree” in module-specific topics both before and after the training.
  • Behavioral: UCLA Geriatrics Attitudes Scale
    • The UCLA Geriatrics Attitudes Scale is a 14-item scale developed to assess health care providers’ attitudes toward older persons and caring for older patients.
  • Behavioral: Course Evaluations
    • The evaluation surveys for each of the three modules will contain fifteen statements assessing post-training attitudes regarding the skills learned and application of skills in oncology clinical practice, measured on a 5-point Likert scale.
  • Behavioral: The Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) questionnaire
    • The Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) questionnaire is a 10-item self-report scale that measures a patient’s satisfaction with how empathic their health care providers (HCP) was within a specific consultation.
  • Behavioral: Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems Program (CAHPS)
    • Patients” perceptions of the quality of their interactions with their clinicians will be rated with 6 items from the Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems Program (CAHPS)
  • Behavioral: Patient activation measure (PAM) scale
    • The PAM scale contains 22 items that assess patient engagement in their care process.

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • Experimental: GI/GU/Lymphoma Oncologists
    • Doctors specializing in treating gastrointestinal cancer (cancer of the stomach, pancreas, colon, etc.), genitourinary cancer (cancer of the genitals and urinary tract), and lymphoma (cancer affecting the blood and lymph nodes)
  • Active Comparator: Participants with GI/GU/Lymphoma Cancer
    • Patients of the physicians in group 1
  • Active Comparator: Caregivers of Participants with GI/GU/Lymphoma Cancer
    • Family members or caregivers of the patients in group 2

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Feasibility of Health Care Provider (HCP) training
    • Time Frame: 8 weeks
    • Measured by number of HCP successfully recruited for the training
  • Participants satisfaction with Health Care Provider (HCP) training
    • Time Frame: 1 week
    • Self-reported measure of satisfaction

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

Clinician Eligibility

  • MSK medical oncology Health Care Professionals (HCP) – specifically identified as Attendings, fellows, or Advance Practice Professional (APP) – either a Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Physician Assistant (PA) from GI, GU Oncology, Lymphoma, Bone Marrow Transplant or Geriatrics Service (five services with a large number of geriatric patients) – Willingness to be audio-recorded as per self-report – Clinician has individual clinic consultations with patients in the target population: 65 years of age and over, English speaking, and patients who have had a new visit within the last 6 months. Patient Eligibility – MSK patients 65 years of age and over as per EMR – English speaking as per EMR – Being seen by one of the consented HCPs as per the HCP and/or electronic medical record (EMR) – Willingness to be audio-recorded as per self-report – Patient had their first visit with the clinician within the last 6 months Caregiver Eligibility – English speaking as per EMR – Accompanying an MSK patient being seen by one of the consented HCPs as per the HCP and/or EMR Exclusion Criteria:

  • N/A

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Maximum Age: N/A

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Sponsor
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Smita Banerjee, PhD, Principal Investigator, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

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