Table 3.

Opportunities to improve informed decision-making

Theme	Representative quote
Decision aids
Reference document	“To have everything…all laid out in front of you so you could see it. It helps you to understand it way easier…I totally think that would be a major bonus.”
	“I don’t know what I don’t know. I’ve never had pancreatic cancer before, so I didn’t know in the very beginning, in particular, a lot of the things that were, or be able to reference back to it. So, if there was documentation like you’re talking about or a decision-making tree, I think it makes people think a little bit more about their treatment options and the decisions that they have to make. Because I do think that sometimes you’re only half listening.”
Patient aid	“An aid probably could help clarify, or at least give me somebody to kind of act like my friend, someone that could be like an advocate. I know you guys have advocates here, but someone…who can say…’ Let’s talk about some of the points that the doctor discussed and how do you feel about that.’
	“That appointment…with [doctor]…if I had…help, like, not being rushed to make a decision…had somebody to talk to over the weekend about this…a patient aid of some sort…that would have been helpful.”
Content
More information is better	“No matter how you have to come about getting it…you want all the information as best as you can get.”
	“I’m definitely in the category of the more information, the better…”
What questions to ask	“I think so (a decision aid would have helped to better communicate). I could have asked some more intelligent questions…maybe some of them I could have found out on my own, but, probably, I could’ve asked something that would have been…easier for him to understand the question.”
	“I didn’t know what to ask…I was just dumbfounded that they found anything, and…whatever they suggested, I took…”
Supportive care	“When I was first diagnosed, just maybe understanding and discussing Palliative Care [in a decision aid] …I think it’s important…I think it would maybe help…Help you make decisions on further care.”
	“I didn’t know what to expect. I was already scared. You need to go ahead and let me know that that’s one of my choices for help, and…I’m definitely going to go, ‘Anything you can give me for making my quality of life better now I’ll take it.’ So, I think it needs to be…maybe the very first visit you have with that doctor