PROMs are essential tools for evaluating healthcare interventions and monitoring outcomes from the patients’ perspective. However, PROMs alone often lack the contextual richness required to fully understand patients’ lived experiences. Integrating PROMs scores with patients’ narratives helps clinicians contextualize responses, offering a comprehensive understanding of health needs and preferences.

See our example project on Using journey maps to understand patient-reported outcome measures in the cancer journey: Journey maps were developed with older adults with cancer in semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked about their cancer journey focusing on the treatment and post-treatment phases and completed a PROM, the Comprehensive Frailty Assessment Instrument (CFAI), for each phase. When answering the PROM participants were asked to expand on why they chose their responses to provide deeper insights into the context behind their answers and to capture a more comprehensive understanding of their experiences. Feel free to download our open access publication for further information about the project.

Insights from the Journey Maps

1. The journey maps highlight frailty levels and experiences not fully captured by PROM scores alone.
2. Integrating PROM scores with patients’ stories offered deeper insights into the unique challenges faced by older adults navigating cancer.
3. Variations in frailty scores and narratives emphasized the need for tailored care approaches.
4. Using PROM scores as conversation starters may enable clinicians to better understand patient needs, fostering improved understanding and care planning.