Since the beginning of this year, people who have been diagnosed with lung cancer with metastases have had a say in the way they are treated at the Martini Hospital in Groningen. The hospital was the first in the Netherlands to start offering an online decision aid.
The decision aid helps patients and their caregivers to choose the most suitable treatment together. “Which treatment is best is very personal,” the Martini Hospital said. “The decision aid gives patients more insight into the treatment options and helps to list considerations and preferences.”
‘The care provider knows what is medically possible, but the patient is an expert in the area of his or her own life and knows best what fits into it,’ says pulmonologist Wouter Jacobs. If there is a choice between multiple treatments, the treatment team first explains which treatment options are possible and what this can mean for the patient.
Subsidy from KWF
The decision aid was developed at the initiative of the Dutch Association for Thoracic Surgery, in collaboration with all professional associations of doctors who treat lung cancer. Lung Cancer Netherlands, ZorgKeuzeLab, Utrecht University and Amsterdam UMC are also involved. KWF has provided a subsidy.
The intention is that 20 other hospitals will also work with this decision aid.