Patients
upper GI cancer
RECRUITMENT, UPPER GI CANCER
Patients who presented to outpatient hepatobiliary surgery clinics were invited by their surgical oncologist to enroll. Surgeons were encouraged but not required to offer participation to all eligible patients; no additional screening or recruitment measures were used. If a patient declined to participate, study coordinators recorded the reason. Patients were eligible if they were being scheduled for a curative-intent operation for an upper GI cancer and had not previously received specialist palliative care. Patients who did not speak English participated in study activities using a translator service and study materials and activities were available in both English and Spanish.