Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) Training

Description

Research indicates that perceived stigma within medical encounters is prevalent and problematic for lung cancer patients' well-being and quality of cancer care. Promoting empathic communication appears to be a potentially effective intervention target to help reduce patients' perceptions of stigma within clinical encounters; however, no formal trainings exist that focus on teaching empathic communication to oncology care providers (OCPs). Building upon favorable findings from a prior R21 (R21CA202793) and the importance of developing interventions to address lung cancer stigma, our goal is to conduct a national trial of empathic communication skills (ECS) training to facilitate improvements in the medical and psychosocial care of patients through de-stigmatizing interactions with OCPs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer.

Conditions

Lung Cancer

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Study Overview

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Study Details

Study overview

Research indicates that perceived stigma within medical encounters is prevalent and problematic for lung cancer patients' well-being and quality of cancer care. Promoting empathic communication appears to be a potentially effective intervention target to help reduce patients' perceptions of stigma within clinical encounters; however, no formal trainings exist that focus on teaching empathic communication to oncology care providers (OCPs). Building upon favorable findings from a prior R21 (R21CA202793) and the importance of developing interventions to address lung cancer stigma, our goal is to conduct a national trial of empathic communication skills (ECS) training to facilitate improvements in the medical and psychosocial care of patients through de-stigmatizing interactions with OCPs for patients diagnosed with lung cancer.

Empathic Communication Skills Training to Reduce Lung Cancer Stigma

Empathic Communication Skills (ECS) Training

Condition
Lung Cancer
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Irvine

Providence St. Joseph Health (Data Collection Only), Irvine, California, United States, 92612

Libertyville

Advocate Health Care Network, Libertyville, Illinois, United States, 60048

Lexington

University of Kentucky (Data Collection Only), Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40536-0093

Traverse City

Munson Healthcare (Data Collection Only), Traverse City, Michigan, United States, 49684

Hackensack

Hackensack Meridian Health (Data collection only), Hackensack, New Jersey, United States, 07601

New York

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (All Protocol Activities), New York, New York, United States, 10065

Philadelphia

Virtua Health (Data Collection Only), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 08060

Chesapeake

Chesapeake Regional Healthcare (Data Collection Only), Chesapeake, Virginia, United States, 23320

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * Employs at least 15 FTE OCPs (i.e., oncologists, nurse practitioners and physician assistants) as per self report
  • * Reports a clinic volume of at least 20 new lung cancer patients per month as per self report
  • * OCPs who are thoracic oncology physicians (radiologists, medical oncologists, pulmonologists, and surgeons), NPs, or PAs and currently treating lung cancer patients, as per self-report;
  • * OCP conducts consultations with lung cancer patients, as per self-report;
  • * OCP sees at least 1 lung cancer patient per week, as per self-report;
  • * Patient under the care of a participating OCP as per self report;
  • * English and/or Spanish speaking;
  • * In general, which language do you prefer to receive your medical care, English/Spanish/both English and Spanish Equally?
  • * If English, treat as fluent in English, no additional language questions
  • * If Spanish, treat as fluent in Spanish, no additional language questions
  • * If both English and Spanish equally, ask the follow-up questions and go with whichever language is endorsed as best. If endorsed equally, assign to category patient prefers
  • * How well do you speak English? Not at all/ Not well/Well/Very well
  • * How well do you speak Spanish? Not at all/Not well/Well/Very well
  • * Is at least 18 years of age as per self report;
  • * Has a history of suspicious lung mass or confirmed lung cancer diagnosis, as per clinician judgment or medical record note;
  • * Is a former or current smoking as per self report;
  • * Has had no more than 10 prior visits with the participating OCP, as per the medical record and/or self report
  • * Individuals of impaired decision-making capacity as per a clinician's judgment or as documented in the EMR.
  • * None

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to 100 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,

Smita Banerjee, PhD, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Study Record Dates

2026-08-31