BCEEEF 2011: Psycho-social aspects of treating elderly patients: Expert roundtable.

Prof Antonello Pinto, Dr Luzia Travado, Giora Sharf, Prof Joerg Hasford, Prof Gordon McVie.

Prof Antonello Pinto (National Cancer Institute, Naples, Italy), Dr Luzia Travado (Central Lisbon Hospital Centre, Portugal), Giora Sharf (Israeli CML Patient's Support Group), Prof Joerg Hasford (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Germany) and Prof Gordon McVie (European Institute of Oncology and ecancer) discuss the amount of involvement a patient's family should have in decisions relating to treatment. It is important that if there is no cognitive limitations the doctor ensures that the patient is at the centre of the decision making process. However, patients' families have a key role to play in other aspects such as patient compliance. Compliance to treatment schedules is often low in elderly patients but families can help avoid this by reminding patients to take their medication. It has been shown in a recent study that patients exaggerate and tell doctors they have taken their medication more than they have. Doctors should be aware of this and ensure patients understand why it is essential they comply with their treatment programme. The panel concludes by considering research indicating that age discrimination is seen more commonly among office based physicians and not in hospital based doctors.

Category:

Science & Technology

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