Evaluation of advanced breast cancer multidisciplinary team meatings Chirgwin, J., Craike, Melinda, Gray, C. and Livingston, Patricia 2008, Evaluation of advanced breast cancer multidisciplinary team meatings, in Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and the International Association of Cancer Registries Joint Scientific Meeting, held in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Gastro-Oesophageal Surgery Association, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia, Carlton, Vic.. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Evaluation of advanced breast cancer multidisciplinary team meatings Author(s) Chirgwin, J. Craike, Melinda Gray, C. Livingston, Patricia Conference name Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and the International Association of Cancer Registries Joint Scientific Meeting (2008 : Sydney, N.S.W.) Conference location Sydney, N.S.W. Conference dates 18-20 November 2008 Title of proceedings Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and the International Association of Cancer Registries Joint Scientific Meeting, held in conjunction with the Australian and New Zealand Gastro-Oesophageal Surgery Association Publication date 2008 Publisher Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia Place of publication Carlton, Vic. Summary Background: Multidisciplinary team meetings (MDMs) have become an important decision-making forum in oncology. These meetings bring together expertise from each relevant field to improve continuity of care and health care outcomes for cancer patients. However there is a lack of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of MDT meetings in improving cancer patient outcomes. The aim of this study was to explore the perceived value and potential usefulness of multidisciplinary team meetings for patients with advanced breast cancer (ABC). Methods: ABC MDMs have been conducted since 2002 at two sites of Eastern Health, the second largest health service in Melbourne. Attendees were invited to complete a confidential questionnaire in November 2007 that comprised seven areas aimed to assess their judgment of how well the MDMs have improved patient management, including medical recommendations, psychosocial care, palliative care, community care, and team development. Average scores were calculated for improvement of each area. Results: A total of 16 (69%) health practitioners participated in the survey, with main representation from nursing (37%), allied health (25%) and medicine (19%). Preliminary results indicate that the broad areas members reported the meeting had improved patient outcomes were in palliative care and medical management. Specific areas of perceived improvement were medical outcomes for patients; early referral to palliative care services; confirmation of diagnosis; referral to supportive care; and appropriateness of palliative care referrals. Conversely, the area that had least improved was community care, as there was no input from GPs or community services other than palliative care. Attendance by GPs and radiologists were considered important for further improving medical outcomes for patients. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the perceived value of the MDT approach in the care of ABC patients, particularly in improving patient outcomes. The next stage of this research is to conduct a survey of ABC patient satisfaction level. Language eng Field of Research 111205 Chemotherapy Socio Economic Objective 920207 Health Policy Economic Outcomes HERDC Research category E3 Extract of paper HERDC collection year 2008 Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30019253 Document type: Conference Paper Collection: School of Nursing and Midwifery Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 11 Sep 2009, 10:40:49 EST Tue, 13 Oct 2009, 08:51:13 EST Mon, 26 Oct 2009, 14:27:04 EST Tue, 04 Jun 2013, 11:52:20 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 499 Abstract Views, 0 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Fri, 11 Sep 2009, 10:40:49 EST

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