Group-based or Individual Information About Disease and Treatment Plan

Overview

The main aim of the current study is to investigate whether the addition of a standardized,group-based educational program to the information provided by health care personnel improves cancer patients' knowledge level about their disease, planned treatment and common side-effects of the treatment. Secondary aims are to investigate if the addition of the educational program increases the likelihood of completing treatment as planned, reduces level of anxiety, reduces the frequency of serious side effects, increases patient reported health related quality of life, and increases the degree of patient satisfaction with respect to how they have received the information before, during and after treatment.

There are strong indications that group-based information provides better information for cancer patients about their disease, treatment options - and potential benefits and side effects of the planned therapy than information provided during a regular doctor consultation. The investigators believe that standardizing and repeating the information as well as having more time for questions in an open environment for reflections will improve the amount of information patients can perceive. Furthermore, all patients will be given written information. Better-informed patients may be more motivated and may contact health care personnel earlier than other patients when they develop side effects. This may reduce the risk of serious treatment-related complications and increase the chances of patients completing the planned treatment. But none have compared to what extent an organization like Vardesenteret improves the patients' knowledge and whether patients are more satisfied with these methods for informing them. Results from studies on the influence of patient anxiety and distress on patient's abilities to perceive information are conflicting.Two large groups of relatively homogenous cancer patients are patients with lower-stage breast cancer patients who are eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy and patients with localized prostate cancer eligible for curative radiotherapy.