Healthcare provider often skeptical about supportive care for cancer patients – PW – Pharmaceutisch Weekblad

More than half of cancer patients use complementary care in addition to their regular treatment, Nivel says. And both patients and health care providers indicate a need for reliable and accessible information about palliative care. According to the researchers, discussing complementary care openly and systematically during a consultation so that the patient can make an informed decision promotes safe and specialized oncology care.

The goal of complementary care is to improve quality of life; therefore it does not replace regular care, but supports and complements it. Lack of communication about this can be dangerous, says Nivel, especially if it affects regular treatment. As a result, some patients do not receive any information about complementary care at all.

Barriers

So Nivel researched communication between patients and health care providers about joint care, what barriers there are to discussing this together and how these can be removed.

Nivel’s research shows that complementary care was mentioned in 44% of the discussions during oncology consultations. The patients specifically mentioned it (62% of cases). They often had questions about lifestyle interventions such as nutrition or exercise. Healthcare providers mostly answered direct questions, but did not discuss broader aspects such as safety or effectiveness.