Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

With an estimated 166,400 new cases of cancer that will occur in Canada in 2008, an increasing number of cancer patients will face difficult decisions related to treatment. While health care providers are often focused on making sure patients are making informed treatment decisions based on clinical data and the latest research, patients struggle to maintain their hope and independence when making decisions that also reflect their values and beliefs, as well as those of their social network. In the context of seeking informed consent for cancer treatment, health care providers may find themselves caught in a dilemma of having to tell the truth about a patient's reasonable expectations of survival while also balancing respect for a patient's hope, values and beliefs, and social context by considering how the information might impact a patient's hope and sense of self. This original research study will use qualitative research methods to interview 40 cancer patients and 15 health care providers about how patients make treatment decisions and the role of hope, values and beliefs, and social networks on the decision-making process. The study will identify best practices by health care providers that support patients' hope and independence in the treatment decision-making process. This research will be used to inform future policies related to informed consent and the development of decision support strategies aimed at helping patients maintain hope and independence in treatment decision making.