Ringing the Bell at the End of Treatment: Assessment of Patients’ Experiences in a Latin American Center

Abstract

Ringing the bell at the end of radiation treatment is a practice that has become common in many cancer centers in the U.S. but had not previously been introduced in Chile. It appears that patients and their families enjoy this experience, but we had not made a formal assessment after its introduction. A patient donated a bell to our center in 2019 after being treated in the U.S. where he found the experience to be positive. After introducing its use in our center, where approximately 350 patients receive treatment every month, we attempted to evaluate patients’ experience with it. Measuring patient satisfaction with ringing the bell at the end of treatment and analyzing if satisfaction was related to factors such as sex, age, educational level and palliative vs curative intent. an anonymous survey was created to capture patient’s demographic characteristics, intent of treatment they were undergoing and patient and family valuation of the ringing the bell experience on a Likert scale. Analysis was made with tabulations and correlations where analyzed as appropriate. between November 2019 and February 2020, 236 patients completed the anonymous survey, 84 men and 152 women. Median age was 59 (19-92). 36% had public insurance, 53% private insurance, and 10% armed forces insurance. 16% had incomplete high school, 22% had completed high school, 26% had technical education and 36% were university graduates. Intent of treatment was curative in 66%, palliative in 19% and 15% where no aware of what was the intent of treatment. When asked “Do you know the intention of ringing the bell” 91% answered yes. 92% of patients stated on a Likert scale that ringing the bell had made them feel happy or very happy. 94% of patients considered the ringing he bell experience as either positive of very positive. When asked about how their families valued the experience, 92% stated it was either positive or very positive (table 1). A blank space for comment was left at the end of the survey in case any patient wanted to add a personal comment. 113 patients included a thankful note or congratulation on the ringing the bell experience. survey results on ringing the bell where extremely positive. No further analysis was possible because of the absence of negative experiences on the part of patients. The bell has a permanent place at the institution now.Abstract 2504; TableNo answerVery negativeNegativeIndifferentPositiveVery positiveTotalHow does the bell make you feel?1,69%0%2,12%4,24%35,59%56,36%100%How do you value the bell?2,13%0%0,43%3,4%32,77%61,28%100%How does your family value the bell?5,08%0%0%3,39%25,42%66,1%100% Open table in a new tab