New Horizons for Effective Communication Using Mobile Technologies

Effective communication between cancer patients, family caregivers, and healthcare providers from the time of diagnosis throughout survivorship is indispensable owing to its core functions in cancer care. These functions not only are limited to exchanging information, making decisions, and enabling family self-management to enhance cancer care delivery but also include fostering healing relationships, managing uncertainty, responding to emotions, and promoting hope.1,2 A diagnosis of cancer is always overwhelming and challenging to patients, given its life-threatening nature, related new medical needs, and the myriad physical symptoms that arise from invasive disease-directed treatments. These issues demand effective and interactive communication during this crucial time to facilitate understanding and address patients’ distinct needs and concerns. Cancer patients have unique communication needs during all phases of their cancer care. In addition to establishing good communication between healthcare professionals and patients, communicating effectively with caregivers is also imperative in the practice of oncology because caregivers play a key role in the trajectory of cancer patients.

However, owing to the demanding clinical setting, communication with patients and caregivers is often placed at a relatively low priority compared with acute cancer treatments. The lack of therapeutic communication between cancer patients, family caregivers, and healthcare providers may hinder the treatment process, which negatively impacts the psychological well-being of both cancer patients and their caregivers, particularly during distressing times. Effective communication during the process of cancer care and treatment benefits patient outcomes by promoting self-care and participation, generating a sense of self-control, ameliorating negative emotions (ie, reducing anxiety and sadness), and enhancing participation in decision making that contributes to the improvement of general health.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has ravaged the world, resulting in social estrangement, a chasm of isolation, and increased communication barriers for many people. Developing innovative and effective methods of communication to bring people together again is crucial. The exponential growth and versatility of mobile technologies have provided substantial benefits for healthcare professionals, allowing them to efficiently and interactively communicate with patients and their caregivers. Mobile technologies (eg, mobile instant messaging applications) possess several advantageous features that make them particularly applicable for delivering effective therapeutic communication regarding healthcare services. First, mobile instant messaging applications allow direct and real-time mutual communication of continuous health information and advice, and individualized support for patients and their caregivers, thus enabling patient-centered care. Second, unlike face-to-face or phone-based consultation, instant messaging is delivered instantaneously and can be accessed at a time that suits recipients, which allows flexible interactions throughout the day. Therefore, 2-way communication can be facilitated and maintained for a prolonged period using minimal resources.3 Third, instant messaging is a pervasive and inexpensive form of mobile technologies and has great potential to improve adherence to healthcare services. It is considered one of the most promising methods to enhance and support the delivery of patient-centered care and improve clinical outcomes at a low cost. In addition to the benefits of enhanced health delivery and promotion, instant messaging provides a more flexible, feasible, and efficient consultation approach than the face-to-face approach, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, when most face-to-face healthcare services were inevitably suspended.4 Therefore, using mobile technologies to deliver cancer or survivorship care can alleviate the challenges and threats posed by this pandemic to healthcare services.5

The primary focus of the current healthcare paradigm has shifted toward optimizing clinical outcomes. To this end, effective communication has provided an impetus for oncology nursing practices. Integrating mobile technologies into current cancer care may be a promising and flexible approach to enhance interactive communication among healthcare professionals, cancer patients, and their caregivers.

William Ho Cheung Li, PhD, MPhil, RN, FAAN
Ankie Tan Cheung, PhD, RN
Faculty of Medicine
School of Nursing
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

1. Epstein RM, Street RL Jr. Patient-Centered Communication in Cancer Care: Promoting Healing and Reducing Suffering [NIH Publication No. 07-6225]. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute; 2007. 2. Sisk BA, Friedrich A, Blazin LJ, Baker JN, Mack JW, DuBois J. Communication in pediatric oncology: a qualitative study. Pediatrics. 2020;146(3):e20201193. 3. Kaplan WA. Can the ubiquitous power of mobile phones be used to improve health outcomes in developing countries?Global Health. 2006;23(2):9. 4. Archer S, Holch P, Armes J, et al. "No turning back" psycho-oncology in the time of COVID-19: insights from a survey of UK professionals. Psychooncology. 2020;29(9):1430–1435. 5. Cheung AT, Li WHC, Ho LLK, Chan GCF, Chung JOK. Health support to pediatric cancer survivors and their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2020;67(11):e28441. doi:10.1002/pbc.28441.

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