Decision aid resources for people with renal cell carcinoma (kidney cancer)

1. Kidney Cancer Basics – an introduction to kidney cancer and a kidney cancer dictionary
2. My treatment My Choice – a decision aid for people with small renal masses
3. My treatment My Choice – a decision aid for people with locally advanced RCC
4. My treatment My Choice – a decision aid for patients with metastatic kidney cancer
5. My treatment My Choice – clinical trial basics
6. My treatment My Choice – a decision aid to help people decide whether to take part in a clinical trial for kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma)

The principle that patients should be involved in all the decisions about their own healthcare has been talked about for many years. We call this principle “shared decision making”.

Shared decision making is a process which ensures patients are supported to make decisions about their care and treatment which are right for them. It is a collaborative process and it starts with a conversation between the patient who is receiving care and the healthcare professional delivering the care. The conversation develops into a process in which they work in partnership to make the best possible decisions; bringing together the clinician’s expertise, treatment options, evidence, risks and benefits, and the patient’s individual preferences, personal circumstances, goals, values and beliefs.

One of IKCC’s core beliefs is that patients and their families have an essential role to play in healthcare decisions that affect their lives. The IKCC shared decision aid series is written for people with kidney cancer, their caregivers and families. The booklets are written by a team of patients, patient advocates and medical professionals who between them have supported thousands of kidney cancer patients worldwide.

We hope you will find these booklets helpful as you and your healthcare team navigate the decisions that lay ahead of you. To download or to print out a pdf copy of an IKCC shared decision making booklet, please click the the title above. The booklets are available in European A5 format. If you wish to print on a “regular” A4 page, please use the layout option “2 pages per sheet” in the print options of your printer.

The 2022 IKCC World Kidney Cancer Day campaign focussed on shared decision-making, the objective was to promote more and better conversations between kidney cancer patients and their clinicians about treatment options. Click here to download the six questions every kidney cancer patient should feel able to ask their doctor. 

Please do get in touch with us if you have any comments and would like to share your experience of using the booklet. You can email us at Julia@ikcc.org and mark your email “shared decision making”.