Journey mapping patient-reported data for older adult patients with cancer

This project is co-funded with AGE-WELL as part of the 2022 Springboard Grants Program: Early Career Researcher Competition.

About the Project

The goal of this project is to help clinicians better understand frailty – a medical condition of reduced function and health in older adults – through the perspective of cancer patients so they can provide improved individualized care. If clinicians better grasp what patients see, feel and do, they will be positioned to meet their patients’ needs and offer appropriate support and resources to them on their cancer journey.

There is growing interest in using patient-reported data in the assessment of frailty for older patients with cancer to enhance person-centred care; but these data are static points that do not present a dynamic and holistic assessment of the patient’s health and therefore are of limited use in cancer treatment that extends over time and responds to their evolving needs. To achieve the full potential of using patient-reported frailty data, clinicians would benefit from learning how to translate that data into a patient’s health story. This can be achieved by journey mapping what patients go through at each stage of their health journey.

By learning how to visualize patients’ healthcare service encounters over time, clinicians have a dynamic portrait of their patient’s experiences, wants and needs. Exposing clinicians to the idea of health narratives and training them to recognize those of older patients with cancer will enable providers to better interpret patient-reported assessments by integrating that information into journey maps – ultimately improving patient experiences with frailty over the course of their cancer treatment.

Anticipated Findings

We anticipate clinicians will use journey maps as educational tools to help them better identify and address the evolving needs of frail older patients undergoing cancer treatment (e.g., facilitating patient-clinician dialogue and adopting education strategies attuned to the needs of individual patients).

Project Team

Principal Investigators:

Jae-Yung Kwon – University of Victoria

Co-Investigators:

Dillon Chrimes – University of Victoria
Lillian Hung – University of British Columbia
Leah Lambert – BC Cancer/University of British Columbia
Francis Lau – University of Victoria
Richard Sawatzky – Trinity Western University
Angela Wolff – Trinity Western University

Knowledge User:

Caroline Mariano – BC Cancer/University of British Columbia

Collaborator:

Jeff Parks – University of Victoria

Patient Partners:

Hilary Horlock – Provincial Health Services Authority
Lorraine Wilson

Keywords: journey maps; self-assessment; patient-reported outcomes; patient-centred care; empathy; older adults with cancer; frailty; aging; knowledge translation; translational science