An Educational Intervention for Patients With Bladder Cancer

The study main objectives are to enhance treatment decision making and improve quality of life and post-treatment health care among patients diagnosed with invasive bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer (BL Ca) is the 5th most commonly diagnosed cancer in the US . BL Ca is more common among men than women and 90% of all patients are over the age of 55. Surgery to remove the bladder followed by one of three diversion techniques (i.e., ileal conduit, continent reservoir, and neobladder) is the standard therapy following invasive bladder cancer. The emotional, functional, physical, and social impact of invasive Bl Ca treatment on patients' QOL and adjustment can be devastating. This impact significantly varies by treatment option. Treatment decision making in for BL Ca is difficult at best and potentially susceptible to a number of cognitive and affective factors (e.g., patients' emotional reaction, values, and expectations). Thus, in addition to adjusting to a potential life-threatening disease, having to cope with uncertainty about the efficacy and outcomes of different treatment options adds to the overall distress and may impair effective decision-making. In spite of increasing efforts in health communication and patient education, no study has examined treatment decision making among invasive bladder patients or has provided an educational intervention to facilitate treatment decision making among this population. To this end, and guided by the Self-Regulation theory (SRT) that emphasizes the role of cognitive and emotional factors in decision making, we have designed and pilot tested the acceptability of a preliminary educational and training experiential intervention (ETE) to address this gap in the literature. The ETE intervention uses new and innovative educational strategies and methods to educate patients about their treatment options and to facilitate their treatment decision making.