Shared decision-making in breast cancer care is becoming increasingly important as patients seek clearer, more respectful, and more understandable conversations about diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. In a care journey that may include screening, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, genetic testing, clinical trials, and long-term follow-up, effective communication can shape not only what choices are made but also how confident and supported patients feel while making them.

Health care delivery is changing as patients seek more transparent, respectful, and understandable conversations about diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. In breast cancer care, where patients may face complex decisions about screening, surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, genetic testing, clinical trials, and long-term follow-up, communication can shape not only what choices are made but also how confident and supported patients feel while making them.

That focus will be at the center of an interactive webinar for health care professionals examining how shared decision-making and health literacy influence patient experiences in real-world clinical settings. The session is designed to give providers space to reflect on their own communication practices, discuss barriers patients face when navigating cancer care, and identify practical strategies to strengthen patient-centered care.

The conversation comes at a critical time. Breast cancer remains the most common cancer diagnosed among women in the United States, excluding skin cancers, according to the American Cancer Society. The organization estimated that more than 310,000 women would be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2024 and that more than 42,000 women would die from the disease. While decades of advances in screening and treatment have helped reduce breast cancer mortality overall, those gains have not reached all communities equally.

Black women continue to experience a higher death rate from breast cancer than white women, despite having similar or slightly lower incidence rates in many national analyses. Researchers and public health officials have linked the gap to a range of factors, including later-stage diagnosis, differences in tumor biology, unequal access to timely and high-quality treatment, insurance and transportation barriers, medical mistrust, and the cumulative effects of structural inequities. Triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype that lacks estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and excess HER2 protein, is also more common among Black women and is often harder to treat.

Those disparities have made communication and trust central issues in cancer care. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that all women begin breast cancer screening every other year at age 40 and continue through age 74, a change intended to improve early detection. But screening recommendations are only one part of the care journey. Patients also need information they can understand, clinicians who listen to their goals and concerns, and systems that make follow-up care accessible after an abnormal result.

Shared decision-making moves beyond a one-way model of medical instruction. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality describes it as a collaborative process in which patients and clinicians make health care decisions together, informed by clinical evidence as well as the patient’s values, preferences, goals, and circumstances. In breast cancer care, that can mean discussing the benefits and risks of different treatment options, clarifying what a diagnosis means, asking what matters most to the patient, and confirming that the patient understands the next steps.

Health Literacy as a Pathway to Trust

Health literacy is equally important. Healthy People 2030, the federal public health framework led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, defines personal health literacy as the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions. It also recognizes organizational health literacy, which places responsibility on health systems to make information and services easier to find, understand, and use.

That distinction matters for patients facing breast cancer. A person newly diagnosed may be asked to absorb unfamiliar terms such as staging, receptor status, tumor grade, genomic testing, margins, recurrence risk, and treatment sequencing, often while managing fear, family responsibilities, work demands, and financial stress. For patients with limited English proficiency, limited access to technology or prior negative experiences in health care settings, the burden can be even greater.

The webinar will be moderated by Adjoa Kyerematen, MS, Vice President of the Center for Communications & Public Affairs at the National Minority Quality Forum. Kyerematen also co-chairs NMQF’s Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative, which aligns with the goals of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot 2.0 by advancing earlier detection, policy engagement, community interventions, and public awareness to improve cancer equity.

Panelists will include Taylarr Lopez, MPH, Health Communications Director at NMQF’s Center for Communications & Public Affairs, who leads the Lift Every Voice Program. The initiative uses patient stories, tailored health education, and advocacy to empower diverse communities and elevate lived experience in health conversations.

The discussion will also feature NaTosha Gatson, MD, PhD, FAAN, a tenured professor of neurology, neurological surgery, and medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at IU Health’s Neuroscience and Cancer Institutes. Her clinical and research background brings a specialist’s perspective on complex cancer communication, multidisciplinary care, and the importance of helping patients understand treatment choices.

Lyndsay Levingston, founder and executive director of SurviveHER, will bring the perspective of survivorship and community advocacy. Diagnosed with Stage 2B triple-negative breast cancer in 2019, Levingston underwent treatment and surgeries before being declared cancer-free in 2020. She later founded SurviveHER to support breast cancer survivors and improve breast health outcomes for women through education, wellness, and access.

AshleyCae Lee, a health care advocate, community activist, artist, and poet from Flint, Michigan, will also join the panel. As someone navigating leukemia and breast cancer, AshleyCae uses her lived experience to advocate for cancer awareness, health care equity, and healing-centered storytelling.

Together, the panel reflects a central message for providers: improving breast cancer outcomes requires more than clinical expertise. It also requires communication that is clear, culturally responsive, and grounded in respect for the patient’s voice. For communities of color, where health care experiences may be shaped by underdiagnosis, undertreatment, or mistrust, shared decision-making can be a tool for rebuilding confidence and improving engagement.

The session is expected to encourage health care professionals to examine how they explain risk, invite questions, confirm understanding, and respond when patients express fear, confusion, or hesitation. It will also highlight the role of community organizations, advocates, and survivors in bridging gaps between medical systems and the people they serve.

As breast cancer care continues to evolve, the challenge for health systems is not only to deliver more advanced treatments but also to ensure patients can meaningfully participate in decisions about their care. By centering shared decision-making and health literacy, providers have an opportunity to strengthen trust, improve communication, and support more equitable outcomes for every patient.

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