title: Communication between oncologists and lymphoma survivors during follow-up consultations: A qualitative analysis.
abstract: Cancer survivors often experience both short- and long-term challenges as a result of their cancer treatment. Many patients report feeling "lost in transition" following cancer treatment. The oncologist plays a key role in helping the patient to transition to survivorship. The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive understanding of the clinical care delivered during follow-up visits for lymphoma patients transitioning from active therapy into survivorship. We used thematic text analysis to identify themes in transcripts of audio recordings of 21 physicians and their patients in follow-up visits within 3 years of completing lymphoma treatment. Conversations between oncologists and patients during follow-up visits addressed a variety of themes, including specific health concerns, follow-up care, health promotion, prior treatment and test results, overall health status, emotional communication and affective tone, post-treatment rehabilitation, discussions occurring in the patient's physical examination, and social issues. However, the frequency with which these themes were discussed varied. In addition, there did not appear to be a consistent framework for these visits. The varied nature of the follow-up visits analyzed in this study suggests the need for increased structure in survivorship-care consultations.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Elyse
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shuk
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Errol
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.affiliation: b Department of Natural and Applied Sciences , Bentley University , Waltham , MA , USA.
authors.forename: Danielle
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blanch-Hartigan
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matasar
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Horwitz
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.|c Department of Psychiatry , Monash University , Melbourne , Australia.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kissane
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.
authors.forename: Smita C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , New York , NY , USA.|d Department of Medical Education , Hamad Medical Corporation , Doha , Qatar.|e Department of Psychiatry , Weill Cornell Medicine in Qatar , Doha , Qatar.
authors.forename: Carma L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Bylund
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072103:Oncologists / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: doctor-patient communication; lymphoma; survivorship