Ietje Perfors

20 Chapter 2 Abstract Background Shared decisionmaking (SDM) is considered important to realise personalised cancer care. Increased general practitioner (GP) involvement after a diagnosis is advocated to improve SDM. Aim To explore if cancer patients are in need of GP involvement in cancer care in general and in SDM, and whether these needs are met. Design and Setting An online national survey distributed by the Dutch Federation of Cancer Patient Organisation (NFK) in May 2019. Methods The survey was sent to (former) cancer patients. Topics included GP involvement in cancer care in general and in SDM. Descriptive statistics and quotes were used. Results Among 4,763 (former) cancer patients, 59% (N=2,804) expressed a need for GP involvement in cancer care. Of these patients, 79% (N=2,193) experienced GP involvement. Regarding GP involvement in SDM, 82% of the patients (N=3,724) expressed that the GP should “listen to patient’s worries and considerations”, 69% (N=3,130) to “check patient’s understanding of information”, 66% (N=3,006) to “discuss patient’s priorities in life and the consequences of treatment options for these priorities”, and 67% (N=3,045) to “create awareness of the patient’s role in the decision making”. This happened in 47%, 17%, 15% and 10% of these patients, respectively.