About Us
Our Projects
PROSE engages in quality improvement and research projects to support our goals and enhance our understanding of patient experience. Each project will be developed with the aim of improving patient experience systematically or with tumour-specific groups.
Pilot projects will include a specific PREM measure and may include additional measures, such as tumour-specific PROMs. Measures will be used to collect data before, during and/or after radiation treatment.
Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs)
PROSE aims to enhance person-centered care by capturing patient’s perspectives using patient-reported experience measures (PREMs).
PREMs can be used to collect patient experience data at certain time points or used routinely in clinical practice.
An example of a PREM used and developed by CancerCare Ontario is the Your Voice Matters (YVM) survey. This validated PREM collects data on how patients experienced their arrival to the clinic, their interactions with staff and healthcare providers during their appointment, how they felt leaving their appointment as well as their overall experience of their visit to the clinic. The YVM also captures key concepts related to the 8 dimensions of person-centered care.
PROSE will use the YVM to collect patient experience data for QI and research projects.
Patient-reported outcomes measures (PROMs)
PROMs can be used in clinical practice to assess a patient’s health status from their perspective. PROMs can be generic or tumour-specific.
An example of a general PROM is the Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale-revised (ESAS-r). ESAS-r is routinely used in our radiation department to collect information from all patients. ESAS-r asks patients to rate on a scale of 0-10 how they are currently feeling with regards to the most common cancer symptoms. PROSE projects will include ESAS-r data whenever possible.
PROSE projects will also use validated tumour-specific PROMs for projects specific to a certain cancer population, such as head and neck cancers.
An example of a head and neck specific PROM is the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory – Head and Neck (MDASI-HN). This PROM asks patients to rate how they are feeling on a scale of 0-10 and includes questions about symptoms that are specific to cancers of the head and neck. Goals for tumour-specific pilot projects can include improving symptom management or tailoring symptom support for patients.
Quality Improvement (QI)
PROSE develops and implements pilot projects aimed at improving patient experience and the quality of care that patients receive in the radiation department.
The outcome of each project will include a PREM and/or PROM and/or exit surveys to determine the success of each project.
PROSE research activities help to support the development of pilot projects and provide additional information to advance knowledge about person-centered care and patient experience and to help direct QI work.
Supportive research activities include:
- Baseline cross-sectional studies
- Chart reviews
- Patient interviews
- Prospective studies
PROSE Projects
Completed projects
Scoping review: Improving Patient Experience in Health Care
Grendarova P, Yannitsos D, Vaska M, Barbera L. Improving patient experience in health care and oncology: A scoping review. Poster presented at: ASCO Quality Care Symposium; 2019 Sept 6-7; San Diego, CA. Download
Grendarova P, Yannitsos D, Vaska M, Barbera L. Improving patient experience in health care and oncology: A scoping review. Poster presented at: CARO Annual Meeting; 2019 Oct 2-5; Halifax, NS. Download
Patient Experience in Radiation Oncology
Yannitsos D, Grendarova P, Al-Rashdan A, Watson L, Smith W, Lochray F, Wu J, Barbera L. Patient experience in radiation oncology. Presented at: A Catalyst for Whole-Person Cancer Care. CanPROS conference; 2019 Nov 13-15.
Yannitsos D, Grendarova P, Al-Rashdan A, Watson L, Smith W, Lochray F, Wu J, Barbera L. Patient Experience in Radiation Oncology. Poster presented at: CARO Virtual Scientific Meeting; 2020 Sept 23-25. Download
Yannitsos D, Grendarova P, Al-Rashdan A, Watson L, Smith W, Lochray F, Wu J, Barbera L. Patient reported experience in a radiation oncology department. Patient Experience Journal. 2022; 9(1):119-130. doi: 10.35680/2372-0247.1595. Download
Variability of Patient-Reported Experience Between Different Tumour Groups Based on the Ambulatory Oncology Patient Satisfaction Survey
Al-Rashdan A, Barbera L, Yannitsos D, Watson L, Qi S, Grendarova P. 179: Variability of Patient-Reported Experience Between Different Tumour Groups Based on the Ambulatory Oncology Patient Satisfaction Survey. Radiotherapy and Oncology. 2020 Sep 1;150:S76-7. Download
Al-Rashdan A, Watson L, Yannitsos D, Qi S, Grendarova P, Barbera L. Comparison of Patient-Reported Experience of Patients Receiving Radiotherapy Measured by Two Validated Surveys. Curr Oncol. 2021 Jun 12;28(3):2180-2189. doi: 10.3390/curroncol28030202. PMID: 34204701; PMCID: PMC8293109. Article
Diagnostic timelines and self-reported symptoms of patients with lung and gastrointestinal cancers undergoing radiation therapy
Yannitsos D, Barbera L, Al-Rashdan A, Grendarova P. Diagnostic timelines and self-reported symptoms of patients with lung and gastrointestinal cancers undergoing radiation therapy. Retrospective case control study. Support Care Cancer. 2022 Feb;30(2):1501-1509. doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06522-0. Epub 2021 Sep 17. PMID: 34533629. Article
Pilot Study to Assess the Feasibility and Acceptability of Implementing a Disease-Specific Patient-Reported Outcome Measure in Head and Neck Cancer
Al-Rashdan A, Grendarova P, Yannitsos D, Quon H, Banerjee R, Barbera L. Feasibility and Acceptability of Implementing Site-Specific Patient-Reported Outcome Measure in Head and Neck Cancer Clinics: A Prospective Institutional Study. Advances in Radiation Oncology. 2022 Nov 1;7(6):101036. Article.
Patient Reported Experience in the Radiation Oncology Department (2023)
Data is being used internally to evaluate and guide quality improvement work.
Symptom Management for Radiotherapy Patients with High Symptom Complexity Scores
Poster was presented at the 2024 CARO conference, titled “High symptom burden in patients receiving radiotherapy and factors associated with being offered an intervention”.
Rau, A., Yannitsos, D., Grendarova, P., Qi, S., Watson, L., & Barbera, L. (2024). High Symptom Burden in Patients Receiving Radiotherapy and Factors Associated with Being Offered an Intervention. Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.), 31(3), 1253–1265. https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31030094.
Patient Experience in a Radiation Department Pre- and During COVID-19
Yannitsos D, Grendarova P, Watson L, Barbera L. Patient experience in a radiation therapy department pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Support Care Cancer. 2025;33(2):106. Published 2025 Jan 16. doi:10.1007/s00520-024-09137-3
Symptom Severity and Complexity Trends in Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy
Manuscript is under review with journal.
Poster was presented at the 2022 CAPO conference, titled “Psychosocial and physical symptom burden of cancer patients across the radiotherapy care trajectory”.
Patient Experience of Lung Cancer: A Qualitative Study
Grendarova P, Yannitsos D, Ahmed S, Santana M, Barbera L. Experience of individuals with lung and gastrointestinal cancers undergoing radiation therapy: a qualitative study. Support Care Cancer. 2024;33(1):51. Published 2024 Dec 23. doi:10.1007/s00520-024-09103-z
Projects in the works
Understanding Bowel and Bladder Preparation Issues in the Radiation Department
Currently writing the manuscripts
Poster presented at the 2024 CARO conference, titled “Factors associated with successful CT simulation in prostate cancer radiotherapy”.
Patient Reported Experience in the Radiation Oncology Department (2024)
Data is being analyzed and will be used internally to evaluate and guide quality improvement work.
The PROSE Program
The Person-centered Radiation Oncology Service Enhancement (PROSE) program is an initiative aimed to improve patient experience, housed at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre Radiation Oncology Department.
Contact Us
If you’re interested in participating in PROSE’s programs or would like to know more about our research outcomes, please contact us.
The PROSE Program 