Patient-centered care increasingly means focusing on quality of life. For the past 26 years, Betty Ferrell, PhD, MA, FAAN, FPCN, director and professor, nursing research and education at City of Hope has focused on quality of life research.
Dr. Ferrell recently sat down Federal Practitioner to discuss the components of quality cancer care, the role of family caregivers, and the importance of patient communication.
According to Dr. Ferrell, quality cancer care starts a comprehensive assessment so that care providers understand not only comorbidities, but also family help and psychosocial concerns. Interdisciplinary collaboration is also an essential element of quality care, bringing together an entire team to focus on the patient. Finally, Dr. Ferrell noted, care must include patient and family education.
0:15 Quality of life research
1:35 Quality of life interventions
2:52 Family care givers
3:30 Three components of quality cancer care
4:38 Communication
5:20 VA cancer care
