Dizman on the Impact of Effective Communication and Language in RCC

Nazli Dizman, MD, hematology/oncology fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the potential impact that disrespectful language can have on patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Dizman and colleagues have done research on adherence to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Language of Respect Guidelines among patients with RCC and findings presented at the 2024 ASCO Genitourinary Annual Meeting looked at the adherence to these guidelines in regard to RCC abstracts which were presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Here, Dizman highlights the importance of the 3 main clauses of the language of respect guidelines.

Transcription:

0:09 | The essence of our jobs as oncology providers is to really team up with our patients to help them go through these challenging situations. For oncologists, there are several ups and downs, and effective communication skills are very important. Patients would want to hear genuine advice that does not blame them or does not count them responsible for anything happening. This will be 1 of the most valuable things that the patients prioritize. If we do this well, we know that they thank us for doing that. Most of us would potentially achieve effective rapport with the patient after spending time in several visits, but it is challenging to do that on the podium or do that while writing papers.

1:12 | I think there is still room for improvement in the language we use in communications and in our presentations or our manuscripts or abstracts. I think our reports in kidney cancer, and we have 2 other reports, 1 in bladder cancer and 1 in prostate cancer, they all highlight the importance of building these skills. I think awareness and adherence to patient respectful language is a good step to help build that rapport for patients we are not seeing personally, and for the broader community of oncology, especially while they are going through challenging times.

Transcription created with AI and edited for clarity.