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. 2021 Mar 20;21(1):256.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-06247-0.

What matters to patients? A mixed method study of the importance and consideration of oncology patient demands

Mathias Waelli  1   2 , Etienne Minvielle  3   4 , Maria Ximena Acero  5 , Khouloud Ba  6 , Benoit Lalloué  7
Affiliations

What matters to patients? A mixed method study of the importance and consideration of oncology patient demands

Mathias Waelli et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: A patient-centred approach is increasingly the mandate for healthcare delivery, especially with the growing emergence of chronic conditions. A relevant but often overlooked obstacle to delivering person-centred care is the identification and consideration of all demands based on individual experience, not only disease-based requirements. Mindful of this approach, there is a need to explore how patient demands are expressed and considered in healthcare delivery systems. This study aims to: (i) understand how different types of demands expressed by patients are taken into account in the current delivery systems operated by Health Care Organisations (HCOs); (ii) explore the often overlooked content of specific non-clinical demands (i.e. demands related to interactions between disease treatments and everyday life).

Method: We adopted a mixed method in two cancer centres, representing exemplary cases of organisational transformation: (i) circulation of a questionnaire to assess the importance that breast cancer patients attach to every clinical (C) and non-clinical (NC) demand identified in an exploratory inquiry, and the extent to which each demand has been taken into account based on individual experiences; (ii) a qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews exploring the content of specific NC demands.

Results: Further to the way in which the questionnaires were answered (573 answers/680 questionnaires printed) and the semi-structured interviews (36) with cancer patients, results show that NC demands are deemed by patients to be almost as important as C demands (C = 6.53/7 VS. NC = 6.13), but are perceived to be considered to a lesser extent in terms of pathway management (NC = 4.02 VS C = 5.65), with a significant variation depending on the type of non-clinical demands expressed. Five types of NC demands can be identified: demands relating to daily life, alternative medicine, structure of the treatment pathway, administrative and logistic assistance and demands relating to new technologies.

Conclusions: This study shows that HCOs should be able to consider non-clinical demands in addition to those referring to clinical needs. These demands require revision of the healthcare professionals' mandate and transition from a supply-orientated system towards a demand-driven approach throughout the care pathway. Other sectors have developed hospitality management, mass customisation and personalisation to scale up approaches that could serve as inspiring examples.

Keywords: Care customisation; Oncology; Organisation; Patient demands; Patient-centred care.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
HCO 1. Results of the importance and consideration given to demands. CF. List of the 26 demands, Appendix 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
HCO 2. Results of the importance and consideration given to demands. Cf. List of the 26 demands Appendix 1
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Variations in consideration of demands perceived by patients. Cf. List of the 26 demands Appendix 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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