title: Is it possible to improve communication around radiotherapy delivery: A randomized study to assess the efficacy of team training?
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of a 38-h communication skills training program designed for multidisciplinary radiotherapy teams.
  
  
  
  Four radiotherapy teams were randomly assigned to a training program or to a waiting list. Assessments were scheduled at baseline (T1) and then after the training was completed or four months later (T2), respectively. Communication around radiotherapy delivery was assessed based on audio recordings of the first and last radiotherapy sessions in order to assess team members' communication skills and the expression of concerns by breast cancer patients (analyzed with content analysis software LaComm).
  
  
  
  198 radiotherapy sessions were recorded. During the first radiotherapy sessions, members of the trained teams exhibited more assessment skills (p=0.048), provided more setting information (p<0.001), and used more social words (p=0.019) compared to the members of the untrained teams. During the last radiotherapy session, members of the trained teams used more assessment skills (p=0.004) and patients interacting with members of the trained teams expressed more sadness words (p=0.023).
  
  
  
  Training of multidisciplinary teams has the potential to transfer skills that affect the short exchanges that take place around radiotherapy delivery.
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Aurore
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liénard
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium.
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Delevallez
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Darius
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Razavi
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anne-Sophie
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Gibon
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Libert
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium; Hôpital Universitaire Erasme, Service de Psychologie, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Delvaux
authors.affiliation: Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium; Hôpital Universitaire Erasme, Service de Psychologie, Brussels, Belgium; C.P.O. (Centre de Psycho-Oncologie), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marchal
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anne-Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Etienne
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bragard
authors.affiliation: Université Catholique de Louvain, Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Éducation, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Université Catholique de Louvain, Faculté de Médecine, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reynaert
authors.affiliation: C.P.O. (Centre de Psycho-Oncologie), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Slachmuylder
authors.affiliation: C.P.O. (Centre de Psycho-Oncologie), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Durieux
authors.affiliation: C.P.O. (Centre de Psycho-Oncologie), Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Farvacques
authors.affiliation: Université Catholique de Louvain, Faculté de Médecine, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scalliet
authors.affiliation: Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium; Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté de Médecine, Belgium.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Houtte
authors.affiliation: Université de Liège, Faculté de Médecine, Belgium.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Coucke
authors.affiliation: Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté des Sciences Psychologiques et de l'Éducation, Belgium; Institut Jules Bordet, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Electronic address: Isabelle.Merckaert@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Merckaert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D003142:Communication; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team; D016012:Poisson Distribution
keywords: Cancer; Communication skills training; Radiotherapy; Team