Communicating with your Health Care Team & Asking for Supportive Care

 

It's been a few years since the #gyncsm community has spoken about how to communicate effectively with your health care team. Many things have changed since then. There are more treatment options for women to consider and discuss with their gynecologic oncologists and other oncologists. More women are asking about enrollment in clinical trials. And the pandemic has caused a change in the way patients and their healthcare team talk, from face-to-face meetings to telehealth visits and phone calls. Many women need emotional support and palliative care to help alleviate side effects from treatment but are unsure how to go about requesting that help.

We hope you will join us on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at our new time 8pm ET, 7pm CT, 5pm PT as we discuss Communicating with your Health Care Team and Asking for Supportive Care. 

Guiding our discussion will be the following Topic (T:) Questions:

T1: How would you describe what constitutes good communication with your health care team?

T2a: How has communicating with your team changed during your cancer experience?

T2b: Has communication between you and your healthcare team been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic?

T3: Have you discussed clinical trials with your provider? How was that information communicated? Did you bring up trials or did your provider?

T4: What would you suggest to your health care team or health care system that would improve communication? What would you suggest to patients to improve communication?

T5: What is the best advice you have received to communicate your need for support - emotional or physical - with your health care team?

T6: How do you prepare for visits with your health care team?

Since most of what we will share and discuss is not limited to gynecologic cancers, feel free to invite others impacted by cancer to join us for this discussion.

 

See you on Wednesday!

Dee and Christina