Navya  has teamed with Tata Memorial Centre to commence its clinical trial that will explore the effects of an online decision tool for women faced with surgical decisions in early breast cancer.

Decision aids are usually static information pamphlets used by the physician in clinic. Navya proposes an interactive and online decision aid that patients can use at home or while waiting to meet the surgeon in clinic. The Navya Patient Preference Tool looks to make the decision making process inclusive of the complete family by empowering all members with the necessary information.

Now Navya which is a clinical informatics and patient services organization   has teamed up with faculty from Harvard Business School (HBS) to answer questions regarding the influence of traditional gender roles, a woman’s centrality in her family unit, autonomy or deference of decisions to others, and the role of the male patriarch in the family. Leading faculty at HBS have studied the role of gender identity and how it impacts significant decisions in women’s lives. Through this study, Navya and HBS are applying their expertise to help women make more empowered and informed decisions with respect to her healthcare.

Estimates show that roughly 150,000 women in India are diagnosed with breast cancer every year and about half of them succumb to it.  In order to make an informed choice, several decision aids are available but most are transplanted from the west. The tool Navya has created is an adaptive conjoint analysis based patient preference tool that is administered online and provides information to both the patient as well as a key male member in the family who may be involved in the decision. It is  designed to reduce the conflict that arises from this decision and increase patient satisfaction.

“It is imperative that informed decisions are being made when a woman chooses Breast Conservation Therapy or Mastectomy. This ensures that patients feel empowered and are aware of the various outcomes of such choices,” says Dr Naresh Ramarajan, one of the creators of the tool and Chief Medical Officer, Navya.

“While women in western countries often make these decisions autonomously, that is not the case in India and other Asian countries where it is a collective decision made by the family elders. This study aims to empower all the stakeholders and also analyse the influences that impact such decisions,” Dr. Rajendra Badwe, Director, Tata Memorial Centre.

“We are proud to be partnered with Tata Memorial Center for this research study and are optimistic about the impact of this decision aid. It brings together best practices from developed countries and incorporates key insights that are necessary to make it work in the Indian value system” says Gitika Srivastava, Founder of Navya. Tata Memorial Centre will conduct the study with breast cancer patients of all demographic, including variations in education and financial stratifications.