Facilitating collaborative and effective family involvement in the cancer setting: Guidelines for clinicians (TRIO Guidelines-1)

Abstract

Objective: Family caregivers regularly attend medical consultations and are often involved in decision-making; however, there are few practical strategies to guide effective communication for the clinician-patient-family trio. We aimed to develop and evaluate the first comprehensive guidelines for oncology physicians and nurses, on how to positively and effectively involve family caregivers of adult patients in consultations and patient care (TRIO Guidelines-1) and how to manage challenging interactions with family caregivers (TRIO Guidelines-2).

Methods: The TRIO Guidelines were based on a comprehensive literature review and input from an expert advisory group (n = 10). They underwent two rounds of formal evaluation via an online Delphi consensus process involving international experts (n = 35), and a subset were piloted with 24 breast cancer clinicians in a workshop format.

Results: TRIO Guidelines-1 incorporate strategies and sub-strategies on facilitating collaborative and effective family involvement (6 topics). Example wording, behaviours, and level of evidence are provided throughout. All 24 clinicians rated the guidelines as helpful after the pilot workshop.

Conclusion: These guidelines will be a useful educational tool for clinicians and medical/nursing students.

Practice implications: By equipping clinicians with strategies to facilitate effective and collaborative family engagement, the TRIO Guidelines have the potential to transform communication in clinical practice.

Keywords: Communication strategies; Delphi consensus process; Family caregivers; Guidelines; Oncology health professionals.