Soap Operas Help Define Treatment Options

Soap operas are viewed by many as lightweight entertainment.

But they might play a role in helping newly diagnosed breast cancer patients make the treatment decision that is right for them, said Dr. Maria Jibaja, an assistant professor in family and community medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Jibaja has developed short mini-dramas, or "soap operas," which have been integrated into a four-year breast cancer treatment study. The purpose is to develop and test an interactive, multi-media, computerized decision support system, or CDSS, to aid women as they decide on their treatment options. The program is personalized to make the experience more relevant to the viewers and less threatening, providing familiar situations and characters.

"We hired various actors to play a breast cancer patient, her friends and family," Dr. Jibaja said. "We show the patient in different situations such as in a dress shop, at home with relatives, and at a beauty salon at the different stages of her diagnosis and treatment decision. It's loosely based on a soap opera format."

The Baylor study, funded by a U.S. Department of Defense grant, targets low-income, limited-literacy women from various ethnic groups, who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

"When patients first log onto the CDSS program, they select English or Spanish," Dr. Jibaja said. "Then they give their profile - age, ethnicity and preliminary stage of cancer - which takes them to the soap opera scenes and learning activities that fit their profile."

Following each introductory mini-drama, the CDSS program features five interactive learning modules.

In the opening scene, the patient visits a dress shop and tells a friend of her diagnosis. After that, the first module covers simple facts about breast cancer, the implications of early detection and misconceptions about breast cancer.

In the next scene, the patient is shown in her kitchen discussing aspects of her diagnosis with relatives. This module explains diagnostic and staging tests, the different types of breast cancer, facts about diagnosis and beliefs about cancer treatments.

Additional scenes and modules take the patient on a journey through the treatment process, answering questions about topics such as treatment options, side effects, life after breast cancer and follow-up treatments. The finale is a celebration with family and friends where the patient shares her satisfaction over making an informed decision about her treatment.

Half of the women in the study will be randomly assigned to a control group that receives treatment information in conventional formats such as pamphlets. The other half will be assigned to an intervention group where they also will participate in the CDSS.

Dr. Jibaja said that the Baylor study was launched because national and local data on treatment choices indicated that breast-conserving surgery is underutilized.

The project seeks to determine whether the participants make treatment choices consistent with their personal preferences.

It also will find out whether participants become more knowledgeable about their options and are more satisfied with their decisions than women who receive only standard care and education at a public hospital.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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