Iranian Cancer Patients Perceptions of Barriers to Participation in Decision-Making: Potential Impact on Patient-Centered Care

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions about barriers to decision-making in Iranian patients with cancer about their care. METHODS: Utilizing a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 cancer patients. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed four central categories reflecting patient perceptions about barriers that included medical dominance (uninformed decision-making, perceived inability to disagree secondary to despair, and patient objectification), healthcare system mistrust (physician, nurse, and medical center facility and equipment), healthcare system characteristics (services and facilities’ limitations, poor communication, healthcare setting compulsion), and cultural barriers (feeling unfamiliar, insecurity in an unfamiliar environment, language barriers, limited attention to religious beliefs). CONCLUSIONS: Barriers may impact the perceived ability of Iranian patients’ with cancer ability to participate in decision-making regarding their care. Such barriers contain the potential to disrupt patient-centered care. Perceptions about barriers articulated by patients are modifiable. While some Iranian healthcare systems may have problematic challenges, targeted allocation of resources and education of healthcare providers convey strong possibilities to enhance patient-centered care.