Melanoma Patients Matter – Report and Discussion Guide
BASCSN is pleased to share a new report, Melanoma Patients Matter, which has been published by the pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb.
In order to understand how patients with melanoma are being involved in decisions about their care and treatment, BASCSN was invited by Bristol-Myers Squibb to share our experience and expertise in shaping the project and the resulting report, alongside Melanoma Action and Support Scotland (MASScot) Melanoma UK and Melanoma Focus.
This report summarises the results of a patient survey, which sought the views of a sample of patients with stage three or stage four melanoma across the UK, and five interviews with melanoma patients.
The report contains a series of recommendations for improvements to care and treatment, which it is hoped will lead to a gold standard of care being available for all melanoma patients across the UK.
A discussion guide, Talking about Melanoma Matters, has also been developed to help patients discuss their melanoma diagnosis and treatment with their healthcare professionals and to help healthcare professionals who look after patients with melanoma to communicate as effectively as possible with them.
As treatment options have changed in recent years, patients with melanoma now have more choices to make about their treatment and care. These choices can be complex, and it is important that patients have all the information and support they need to be able to make fully informed decisions.
To support improvements in the conversations that take place between patients and their healthcare professionals, at the point of referral, diagnosis, treatment and living beyond melanoma, BASCSN was invited by Bristol-Myers Squibb to help set out some guiding principles for communicating well.
These guiding principles have been largely informed by the experiences of over 100 patients with melanoma, who responded to a survey conducted for the Melanoma Patients Matter project, on the information and support provided to them. BASCSN has also made contributions to these, based on our experiences of supporting patients with melanoma.
The project was initiated and funded by Bristol-Myers Squibb, while BASCSN has provided experience and expertise in shaping the project and resulting Discussion Guide, alongside Melanoma Action and Support Scotland (MASScot), Melanoma Focus and Melanoma UK.
Talking about Melanoma Matters – Discussion Guide available here.
