Enhancing Communication Between Medical Oncologists And Patients With Advanced Malignancy Considering Clinical Trial Participation, With A Focus On CALD Populations
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$92,335.00
Summary
In the advanced stages of cancer, some patients will need to choose between multiple options - they might wish to pay for an expensive but unfunded drug, they may consider taking part in a clinical trial or opt to stay at home and focus on the time they have. This project will aim to help patients make these difficult decisions with their clinicians, and will have a focus on those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds as they face additional barriers to trial entry.
Improving Outcomes For People With Cancer: Consultation Skills Training With Oncologists
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$499,070.00
Summary
Each year approximately 30,000 Australians die from cancer and 65,000 new cancers are diagnosed. Despite much research for a cure for cancer, the incidence and mortality from cancer has not changed. New treatments now cause people with cancer to live longer with the disease, so we now need to focus on efforts to optimise the quality of life of these people. Although the emotional burden on patients and families is recognized, there is a sense that this is an inevitable by-product of the disease ....Each year approximately 30,000 Australians die from cancer and 65,000 new cancers are diagnosed. Despite much research for a cure for cancer, the incidence and mortality from cancer has not changed. New treatments now cause people with cancer to live longer with the disease, so we now need to focus on efforts to optimise the quality of life of these people. Although the emotional burden on patients and families is recognized, there is a sense that this is an inevitable by-product of the disease and its management in existing clinical systems. However, this does not need to be the case. There is now ample evidence that the way that doctors interact with their patients can effect the accuracy of diagnosis and prognosis, as well as patients' satisfaction, adherence with treatment instructions and quality of life after being diagnosed with cancer. Both patient advocate groups and clinicians have called for further training for doctors to effectively manage psychosocial aspects of cancer care, however, despite this support, there have been few opportunities for such training in Australia. We have developed an innovative consultation-skills program for oncologists. So that the effectiveness of the project can be evaluated, it will be implemented as a randomised controlled trial with oncologists from major Australian cancer clinics being randomly allocated to an intervention or control group. The training program will be delivered by videoconferencing, to overcome many of the barriers that have impeded busy clinicians from participating in previous training programs. This is the first international study to use videoconferencing between remote locations for this type of consultation skills training. A variety of measures will be used to evaluate the impact of the training, including patients' quality of life, anxiety, depression and perceived needs, and oncologists' burn-out.Read moreRead less
Improving QOL At The End Of Life: A Randomised Controlled Trial Of A Doctor-nurse-patient Intervention.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$687,655.00
Summary
This project aims to promote mutual understanding between patients with incurable disease, carers and clinicians about prognosis, end of life issues and treatment goals in order to improve the quality of remaining life. Currently many patients do not understand their prognosis and make poor decisions about treatment, receiving costly, futile and invasive treatments just days before death. This project will empower patients and doctors to better discuss these issues.
I am a Psycho-Oncologist who develops strategies to support decision-making in cancer care, and who explores psychosocial predictors of the development and outcome of disease.
Supportive Care And Patient Empowerment In The Cancer Context.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$863,910.00
Summary
This Senior Principal Research Fellowship will develop and evaluate system-wide interventions to improve psychosocial outcomes of Australians diagnosed with cancer, including Chinese-speaking immigrants; identify long-term challenges for cancer survivors; explore the impact of having multiple gene testing; and evaluate interventions to empower patients to make informed choices regarding cancer treatment.
The Centre For Research Excellence In Minimising Antibiotic Resistance For Acute Respiratory Infections [CREMARA]
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,455,000.00
Summary
Antibiotic resistance is threat to international health. Most antibiotics are prescribed for acute respiratory infections. The Centre for Research Excellence in Minimising Antibiotic Resistance for Acute Respiratory Infections focuses on the major contributors to resistance: antibiotic overuse and person-to-person transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. Research will inform the design, evaluation and translation of urgently needed interventions, aimed at clinicians, patients and policy-makers.
Clinical Correlates Of The Wish To Hasten Death Among The Terminally Ill
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$131,360.00
Summary
There is little research that has directly examined the role of the health professional in a patient's wish to die and the implications of this for the support and development of services to provide care to a dying patient. The aim of this study is to examine factors in the health service, clinical care and social environment that influence the wish to hasten death among terminally ill patients. This is an issue of increasing importance in our community as legislative change is undertaken to ena ....There is little research that has directly examined the role of the health professional in a patient's wish to die and the implications of this for the support and development of services to provide care to a dying patient. The aim of this study is to examine factors in the health service, clinical care and social environment that influence the wish to hasten death among terminally ill patients. This is an issue of increasing importance in our community as legislative change is undertaken to enable assisted suicide in the terminally ill. In particular, there is very limited published research on these issues which have accessed a subject pool of patients who are based in services that specifically provide care for the terminally ill. A specific focus of this study is to examine the factors within the doctor-patient relationship that may influence a patient's wish to hasten death. The doctor's experience of subjective burden in caring for a dying patient, level of confidence in patient management and features of the doctor-patient relationhip will be assessed. This will essentially be an exploratory study which will attempt to establish methodologies that will help to increase an understanding of why some patients request euthanasia, thus leading to the establishment of sound management strategies, as well as contribute empirical data to the euthanasia debate.Read moreRead less