Rutgers Faculty Receives Grant to Improve End-of-Life Cancer Care

Paul Duberstein, chair of the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy at Rutgers School of Public Health and associate research member at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, has received a New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research grant to evaluate the impact of a communication intervention that seeks to improve the care of patients with advanced cancer.

Many aggressive treatments for incurable cancer are ineffective and can compromise a patient’s quality of life, without improving their outcomes. However, when patients and their caregivers understand their prognosis, these aggressive treatments are less likely to be pursued.

The Values and Options in Cancer Care (VOICE) intervention, which Duberstein co-developed, is a tool that enhances quality communication between the physician, patient, and caregiver, increasing the comprehension of the prognosis and minimizing unnecessary cancer-directed treatments. This can lead to improvements in end-of-life care.

“Patients and their family members may genuinely like their cancer doctors, but meetings with doctors can still be very stressful,” states Duberstein. “Many patients and families feel anxious and fearful when they see the doctor. They need help feeling calm and in control when they see their cancer doctors. But doctors have told us that they want help, too. Especially since they know that every patient is different, and no one communication strategy is ‘right’ for every patient. Cancer doctors want to learn new ways of talking with their patients, so they can become better physicians, compassionately understand each patients’ unique needs, and help patients get the right care, at the right time. The VOICE intervention is important because better patient-physician communication produces better quality of life for patients and families.”

The $200,000 grant from the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research will support Duberstein’s ongoing end-of-life care research that examines communication between doctors, patients, and their caregivers. The work is also supported by the New Jersey Health Foundation and the Center for Cancer Health Equity at Rutgers Cancer Institute.

“New Jersey patients receive more aggressive care than any other state,” Duberstein adds. “In 2018, the Governor’s Advisory Council on End-of-Life issued recommendations for improving the care of seriously ill patients in our state. Rutgers is a state university, and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey is the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the state. The grant support we receive advances our public mission by improving patient care at the end of life. We are here for the people of New Jersey.”