A Shared Interface to Improve Oncologist-Patient Communication

Patients recently diagnosed with cancer require information from their oncologist to further educate themselves about their disease, their course of action, side effects, and possible treatment plans and options. However, disagreements on the information discussed in these meetings indicate that patients and physicians leave with different ideas of the content of their discussions, leading to confusion on the part of the patient, and potentially leading to future problems in the course of treatment. With the increasing use of pervasive technologies in the medical environment, there is great potential to augment communication strategies in facilitating better care. In this paper, we propose a solution utilizing a shared mobile device to supplement patient-physician communication during cancer discussions. In particular, we present an application that personalizes the content presented on the device to the patient's diagnosis in a easy-to-understand language, rather than hard-to-understand medical terminology, and encourages patient-physician interaction on the main topical areas of a patient's diagnosis.