Context
My Cancer Navigator is a free service provided by the Anticancer Fund. It meets the needs of cancer patients for neutral information about diagnosis and treatment options. It also answers therapy-related questions from cancer patients and their loved ones. Overall, it contributes to better-informed patients and shared decision-making between patients and their loved ones, and doctors.
The aim of My Cancer Navigator is to inspire better care by empowering patients. In this way, it creates social care gains and provides impetus for a more patient-centred approach to healthcare.
Growth ambition:
- Make the service available to more patients in Belgium and abroad
- Guarantee the current quality and follow-up by an expert team
- Remain a neutral and credible discussion partner for patients,
family members, and healthcare providers
To guarantee high-quality service and attract more partners and sponsors, My Cancer Navigator sought to measure its impact.
Approach
In collaboration with the University of Leuven and My Cancer Navigator, Optigage helped set up and analyse an end-user study.
The study measured the extent to which My Cancer Navigator helped patients and family members increase their capacity for shared decision-making with healthcare professionals (HCPs).
After a set-up and qualitative testing phase, we surveyed a diverse array of impact and process variables via a digital questionnaire. For example:
- Overall satisfaction with My Cancer Navigator
- Increase in users’ knowledge level
- Decrease in emotional burden
- Ability to cope with their illness
- Communication and discussion with HCPs
A set of metrics to track and improve service delivery was integrated into a workflow and follow-up.
Results
My Cancer Navigator reported the results of its case study. It measured significant positive impact across definitive variables. The full article was recently published in the Journal of Health Communication.
These results help My Cancer Navigator:
- Attracting sponsors committed to improving shared decision-making as a facilitator of better care. They value contributing to easing societal challenges of organising increasingly complex care with limited resources. For sponsors, My Cancer Navigator can also serve as a cornerstone of Sustainable Development Goals.
- Building credibility with doctors through relevant and reliable data.
- Continuing discussions with partners who want to invest further in the research of shared decision-making.
