Award-winning ovarian cancer website offers info to suit each patient’s needs

“It was a real pleasure to have the whole team work together on the website,” says clinical nurse specialist Joanne Power. The MUHC Ovarian Cancer Guide developed by an RVH’s Gynaecologic Oncology interdisciplinary team with the MUHC’s Patient Education Office (PEO) won a prize from the Direction québécoise de cancérologie last November.

Back row, left to right: Rina Fusco, nurse clinician, Women’s Health Ambulatory Clinics; Tarah Carr, surgical coordinator, Gynecologic Oncology; Jane Barry-Shaw, nurse clinician, Women’s Health Ambulatory Clinics; Dr. Kris Jardon, gynecologic oncologist; Joanne Power, clinical nurse specialist, Gynecologic Oncology; Enza Ambrosio, pivot nurse, Gynecologic Oncology; Dr. Ziggy Zeng, gynecologic oncologist; and Dr. Claudia Martins, associate director of Research, Gynecologic Oncology

Front row, left to right: Mara DiStaulo, clinical coordinator, Gynecologic Oncology; Dr. Lucy Gilbert, director, Gynecologic Oncology; and Khanh Luu-Yeh, nurse clinician, Women’s Health Ambulatory Clinics.

After a diagnosis of cancer, patients have numerous questions about their illness and their treatment. Nevertheless, not all patients want to have that information all at once. Some prefer to take it in a little bit at a time. An award-winning website developed at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) offers ovarian cancer patients a tool where they can get detailed and easy-to-understand information at their convenience.

“The day patients are diagnosed with ovarian cancer is not necessarily the best time to go into intense teaching with them. So we start by telling them about the site and showing them how to access it. They can then choose the best time to get information about their illness and about what to expect before, during and after a procedure or treatment,” says Joanne Power, clinical nurse specialist in Gynaecological Oncology at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) of the MUHC.

The Ovarian Cancer Guide was developed by the RVH’s Gynaecologic Oncology interdisciplinary team with the MUHC’s Patient Education Office (PEO). It contains detailed illustrated information and simple text to help patients and families make informed decisions with their healthcare teams.

"We know patients go to the internet and google their diagnosis. Sometimes they look at websites from other countries where treatments and drug names can be different,” Power explains. “This website gives women information about how we treat ovarian cancer at the MUHC. They can even find information on where to park their cars when they come to the hospital.”

The guide was judged to be so well designed and helpful that it was awarded a prize last November from the Direction québécoise de cancérologie (DQC), under the category Evolution of practice.

“We were already proud of our website, but, of course, it’s a great honour to be recognized on the provincial level,” Powers says with a smile. “We couldn’t have done it without the support of the PEO. It was a team effort and a team prize.”

All guides developed by the PEO are bilingual and written in easily readable language. The illustrations help patients better understand their diagnosis and the treatments they will undergo.

“One of the PEO’s illustrators spent a full day in the Operating Room with the surgeons watching them do surgeries and then created these amazing animations. They really help us show the patient what the surgery and procedures will be like.”

But it’s not only patients who appreciate the guide.

“One patient told me her daughter, who lives in Vancouver, visited the site so that she could ‘accompany’ her mother throughout her treatment,” Power says.

For patients who prefer to read on paper or for those without access to a computer, specific sections of the guide can be printed.

“And we still have pamphlets, so for patients who want written materials they are available,” Power adds. “The important thing is to address the needs of patients in a timely manner and offer them the best information possible.”