Communicating the External Beam Radiation Experience (CEBRE)
Patients facing radiation therapy were handed dense, 12th-grade-level materials at the most stressful moment of their treatment.
Summary
Nearly two-thirds of US cancer patients receive radiation therapy, yet the patient materials explaining External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) were typically written at a 12th-grade reading level and handed over at a patient’s first appointment — a moment of high emotional stress. An Institute of Design student team, funded by UChicago Medicine’s Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence and partnered with Dr. Daniel Golden, used graphic-novel storytelling techniques to translate the EBRT process into a two-sided discussion guide written at a 5th-grade reading level, replacing what had been dozens of loose informational pages.
Why it’s important
Per the page: 38.4% of people in the US will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and nearly 66% of US cancer patients receive radiation therapy — roughly 1.7+ million new cancer cases were expected in the US in the year cited. Existing patient education material was typically written at a 12th-grade reading level and handed to patients at their first appointment, a moment of high emotional stress, making it poorly suited to the audience and situation.
Real-world impact
The resulting discussion guide was tested with patients, who reported that it made a stressful interaction easier, helped them understand how EBRT works, and set clear expectations for the process. Dr. Golden presented the associated research (with ID students credited as co-authors) at two North American radiology forums. A later ID page (“Three New Guides Now Available for Cancer Patients”) reports the guides have been downloaded over 700 times globally and are used at multiple radiotherapy clinics internationally; the project was also a ClearMark Awards finalist.
To learn more: https://id.iit.edu/projects/communicating-radiation-treatment-to-patients-at-the-university-of-chicago-comprehensive-cancer-center/
Adapted from: “Communicating Radiation Treatment to Patients at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center.” Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, December 1, 2017. https://id.iit.edu/projects/communicating-radiation-treatment-to-patients-at-the-university-of-chicago-comprehensive-cancer-center/.
