It is a jointly held aspiration, for RTD and the Colorectal Surgical team at RMCH, to improve the experience of colorectal cancer patients as they go through critical treatment. It is an objective of RTD as a charity to help improve the mental wellbeing of patients and their families and to assist with research that can test the potential link between an improvement in mental wellbeing and medical outcomes.
The Patient Profiling project has been set up to test the feasibility of using the DiSC tool in a clinical environment and will provide a patient experience survey to assess the impact on the patient experience if key members of the medical team they meet are aware of the patient’s personality profile and adjust their own behaviour towards the patient accordingly.
One of our aims is to explore the potential for this tool and, the evidence produced by the project, to contribute to Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) education and training, and further, to profile CNS and other roles for recruitment purposes.
We also hope, in time, to extend an invitation to patients and their families and friends to join workshops on how understanding their own and loved ones’ personality profiles can help with the patient experience, e.g., providing insights into the type of support that the patient values.
Our long term vision is to combine what we learn with other evidence, from patients and clinicians, in a powerful knowledge base from which to drive better patient care overall for Colorectal Cancer Patients.
