Developing a question prompt list for the oncology setting: A scoping review

Developing a question prompt list for family caregivers concerning the progression and palliative care needs of nursing home residents living with dementia

Objective

Communication around a palliative approach to dementia care often is problematic or occurs infrequently in nursing homes (NH). Question prompt lists (QPLs), are evidence-based lists designed to improve communication by facilitating discussions within a specific population. This study aimed to develop a QPL concerning the progression and palliative care needs of residents living with dementia.

Methods

A mixed-methods design in 2 phases. In phase 1, potential questions for inclusion in the QPL were identified using interviews with NH care providers, palliative care clinicians and family caregivers. An international group of experts reviewed the QPL. In phase 2, NH care providers and family caregivers reviewed the QPL assessing the clarity, sensitivity, importance, and relevance of each item.

Results

From 127 initial questions, 30 questions were included in the first draft of the QPL. After review by experts, including family caregivers, the QPL was finalized with 38 questions covering eight content areas.

Conclusion

Our study has developed a QPL for persons living with dementia in NHs and their caregivers to initiate conversations to clarify questions they may have regarding the progression of dementia, end of life care, and the NH environment. Further work is needed to evaluate its effectiveness and determine optimal use in clinical practice.

Innovation

This unique QPL is anticipated to facilitate discussions around dementia care, including self-care for family caregivers.

Patient prompts in surgical consultations: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Quality communication has been found to improve patient outcomes. Despite good communication, information may still be forgotten or misunderstood by patients. A question prompt list is a document to help patients ask questions. Question prompt lists are well perceived by various stakeholders and have been found of benefit to patients. This systematic review evaluated the effectiveness of patient question prompting documents in surgical outpatient consultations.

METHODS

MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsychINFO were searched on September 13, 2021. Study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were performed in duplicate. We included English studies that investigated the use of question prompt lists and their influence on patient outcomes. We excluded studies that did not have a comparator group. Because of heterogeneity of outcome measures, meta-analysis was precluded. This study was registered with PROSPERO (identification number: CRD42021279058).

RESULTS

Searches identified 107 suitable studies; however, only 7 studies met eligibility criteria. All included studies were randomized controlled trials, but the designs of studies were heterogenous. Three out of 7 included studies were at a high risk of bias. The included studies investigated different outcomes that could be broadly categorized into 5 themes: consultation characteristics, patient engagement, patient well-being, information exchange, and patient satisfaction. None of the studies looked at patient recall of information. Aside from length of consultation, the overall results for each category were mixed.

CONCLUSION

Current literature has suggested that question prompt lists are a low-risk intervention that could improve patient engagement and patient-doctor communication; however, there is limited evidence at present to conclusively promote their usage in perioperative surgical consultations.