Impact of audio-visual tool on patient comfort level at a comprehensive cancer center infusion suite: Preliminary results.

Abstract

348 Background: Patients receiving chemotherapy often experience anxiety which may result in dissatisfaction with care and decreased adherence to treatment, subsequently leading to unfavorable outcomes. Patient education is shown to ameliorate the anxiety and improve patient comfort. However, retention of information by patients may be sub-optimal in this setting and utilization of multiple information sources may enhance patient recall. We hypothesized that a short “welcome video” on what to expect at an infusion visit, in addition to nursing- patient education would improve patient comfort level. Methods: We conducted a single center prospective pre-post study at the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center (UNMCCC) to evaluate the impact of an educational audio-visual tool on the comfort level of patients. An introductory welcome video was developed and made available on: (i) the UNMCCC website (ii) on iPads All patients receiving infusions are asked to complete a survey prior to their infusion. In the phase 1 patients completed surveys prior to the “welcome video” being released. In the phase 2, the video has been introduced. We plan to compare the comfort level of the two populations before and after the video release. Study was reviewed and approved by University of New Mexico Health Sciences IRB. Results: In the first phase, 43 patients completed the survey. Overall, patients felt to have a good understanding of what to expect on their infusion day (average score - 8.9/10), felt somewhat nervous (average score: 3/10), and were interested to learn more about treatment side effects (average score: 5/10), on the 10-point Likert scale (1- strongly disagree, 10- strongly agree (table 1). In the phase 2, preliminary data collection on 40 surveyed patients showed that only 15% (6/40) watched the welcome video. Strategies planned to enhance access including a text message link to the video at patient registration are being implemented as we continue to collect phase 2 survey results. Conclusions: At our center, patients already demonstrate a strong sense of comprehension regarding what to anticipate on their infusion day, primarily through nursing-patient education. Our goal is to further enhance their understanding by improving the delivery of our welcome video and refining the survey questions to yield more informative insights.[Table: see text]