Oxford Textbook of Communication in Oncology and Palliative Care

This textbook integrates clinical wisdom with empirical findings, drawing upon the history of communication science, providing a comprehensive curriculum for applied communication skills training for specialist oncologists, surgeons, nurses, psychosocial care providers and other members of the multidisciplinary team. This new edition presents a curriculum for nurses, which discusses needs of pre-registration to advanced trainees, including the ‘SAGE & THYME’ training programme, chronic disease, responding to depressed patients, the last hours and days of life, family care, facilitation training, and e-learning. The core curriculum ranges from breaking bad news, discussing risk and prognosis, achieving shared treatment decisions, responding to difficult emotions, dealing with denial, communicating with relatives and conducting a family meeting, helping patients cope with survivorship, deal with recurrence, transition to palliative care, and talk openly about death and dying. Modules offer guidelines about key skills, essential tasks, effective strategies, and scenarios for training sessions with simulated patients. The communication science section covers the history and models of communication skills training, the art of facilitating skill development, ethics, gender, power, the internet, audio-recording significant consultations, decision aides, and shared treatment decisions, medical student training, and enhancing patient participation in consultations. Specialty issues are explored, including enrolling in clinical trials, working in teams, discussing genetic risk, reconstructive and salvage surgery, among many other important issues. Variations in clinical disciplines are also discussed, including chapters for social workers, radiologists, surgical oncologists, medical and radiation oncologists, palliative medicine, pastoral care, pharmacy, paediatrics, and the elderly.

2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 441-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle N. Grainger ◽  
Sue Hegarty ◽  
Penelope Schofield ◽  
Vicki White ◽  
Michael Jefford

AbstractObjective:Discussing the transition from active anti-cancer treatment to palliative care can be difficult for cancer patients and oncology health professionals (OHP). We developed a brief communication skills workshop to assist OHP with these conversations, and examined satisfaction with the workshop and perceived confidence regarding these discussions.Method:Interactive workshops were conducted by trained facilitators and included cognitive, behavioral, and experiential components. The major component of the workshop involved role-plays with trained actors (simulated patients). Participants completed an evaluation questionnaire.Results:Sixty-two OHP participated in workshops. Overall, participants were highly satisfied with the workshop content and format. All participants felt the workshop provided relevant practical information, and >80% thought that participation benefited their work. Over 98% said that the workshop had increased confidence in their communication skills.Significance of results:Participants were very satisfied with the workshop, and thought that participation increased confidence in communicating about the transition to palliative care. Dissemination of this model of communication skills training seems warranted.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-16
Author(s):  
Akiko HIRUTA ◽  
Shigeko HORIUCHI ◽  
Keiko ISHII ◽  
Shoko Gilbert HORIUCHI

Author(s):  
Anne Finn ◽  
Emma King ◽  
Susie Wilkinson

This chapter describes the key challenges and rewards of the implementation and delivery of a programme of advanced communication skills training (ACST) for senior healthcare professionals working in cancer and palliative care in Northern Ireland (NI). It enables participants to reflect and critically appraise their own and others communication skills and to demonstrate the skills required to facilitate a structured patient-centred assessment/consultation using specific strategies to handle complex communication scenarios. Participants should also be able to tailor complex information to meet the needs of patients and carers. The course is based on an experiential, learner-centred approach, which is known to enhance effective person-centred communication and includes cognitive, behavioural, and affective components. A 2014 analysis of the programme recommends the two-day as opposed to the three-day model for ACST, as no disadvantages have been identified and this programme is better meeting the needs of the participants.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (26_suppl) ◽  
pp. 29-29
Author(s):  
Carolyn Lefkowits ◽  
Kerri S. Bevis ◽  
Elise Carey ◽  
Robert Arnold ◽  
Lisa Podgurski

29 Background: Good communication is crucial to good patient care. Gynecologic oncology providers often face challenging communication scenarios, including giving serious news and discussing goals of care. Communication skills training (CST) has been shown to improve skill acquisition among providers of multiple specialties, but it has not been described in providers from gynecologic oncology or any surgical oncology specialty. Methods: We conducted a two-day CST workshop, based on the VitalTalk© model, with four faculty members (2 gynecologic oncologists and 2 palliative care physicians) and 10 gynecologic oncology provider participants (5 fellows and 5 advanced practice providers). Using didactics, demonstrations and practice sessions with simulated patients we focused on giving serious news and discussing goals of care. Pre and immediate post-workshop surveys evaluated acceptability of the workshop, perceived impact of preparedness to address challenging communication scenarios and anticipated impact on clinical practice. We compared pre and post-workshop prevalence of score of 4 or 5 out of 5 on a Likert scale for preparedness to handle 14 challenging communication scenarios. Results: Participants reported statistically significant increase in preparedness to handle 13 out of 14 challenging communication scenarios. Among those 13 topics, magnitude of improvement in proportion of participants rating preparedness 4 or 5 out of 5 ranged from 40-100% (all p < 0.05). All participants would recommend the course to others and all strongly agreed that this training should be required of all gynecologic oncology clinicians. Conclusions: Participants felt strongly that the workshop provided high quality education relevant to their practice. As a result of the workshop, participants reported statistically significantly increased preparedness to handle challenging communication scenarios. CST is feasible and has high perceived effectiveness for clinicians in the primarily surgical oncologic specialty of gynecologic oncology.


1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen L. Coffman ◽  
Victoria T. Coffman

For the past five years the first author has served as a communication trainer of new volunteers for a thriving Hospice organization. This article details the communication-related portions of the new volunteer training process. This description covers both the theoretical intentions of the training as well as the contextual applications. It can serve as a text and an outline of activities in developing an initial communication skills training program for Hospice volunteers. Topics addressed include trusting, listening, talking about death and dying, communication/interacting effectively, being assertive, taking responsibility, modeling appropriate behavior, and using imagination.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Peters

Simulated patients (also known as standardized patients) are commonly employed by institutions of medical education to train medical students and assess their communication skills. This article demonstrates that such patients are not translational devices that enact prima facie standards of communication skills as laid out by the institutions that use them, but rather metadiscursively transform communication practices. This is shown via a case study that closely examines a series of interactions between a simulated patient and a third-year medical student during a practice exam designed for the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 Clinical Skills. I use discourse analysis to show how communication skills are transformed in three practices: (1) simulated consultations between standardized patients and medical students; (2) spoken evaluations offered by standardized patients after simulated consultations between standardized patients and medical students; and (3) written evaluations offered by standardized patients in assessment forms. In particular, by attending to how a simulated patient makes the act of draping the patient a relevant communication skill, I explicate the material elements and moral implications of clinical communication. Finally, I consider the instructive role simulated patients play in medical education and how their standards build on and often stand in contrast to communication skills techniques. I conclude by making practical suggestions for communication skills training with simulated patients in medical education.


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