iPall: Learn Palliative Care
  • Home
    • Resources
    • Authors and Contributors
  • For Learners
    • Learning Site Partners
    • Discussion
  • Communication
    • Advance Care Planning
    • Clinical Communication Skills
    • Speaking of Prognosis
  • Physical
    • Symptom Management >
      • Pain >
        • Pain Assessment >
          • Universal Pain Assessment Tool
          • PAIN-AD (behavioral tool)
        • Opioid Conversion
      • ESAS-r Symptom Assessment
      • Respiratory Symptoms
      • GI symptoms
      • Delirium >
        • Delirium Assessment
      • Last Hours of Living
      • Interventional Palliative Care
      • Pediatric Palliative Care
    • Disease Management >
      • Geriatrics
      • Palliative Emergencies
      • Wound Care >
        • Wound Assessment
    • Prognostication
  • Psycho-social-spiritual
    • Emotional
    • Social
    • Spiritual
  • Practical
    • Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Team
    • Locations of Care
  • Ethical
    • Withholding, withdrawing interventions
  • Self-Care

Clinical Communication Skills - "The palliative care procedure"

I remember thinking, as a resident, that good communication was intuitive, something anyone could "get" - or perhaps something you either "had" or "didn't have.”  I have since been proved wrong.

Communication, especially in many of the challenging situations we find ourselves in, requires skill, practice, intention.  It is often referred to as the "procedure" of palliative care specialists.

We rarely formally get taught these skills, or how to teach the skills.  Thankfully, we now have some wonderful writing about this topic to turn to.

Depending on your level of training, your background, your perspective, you may find some of these writings of use.

Web resources

The Lessons: for clinicians of all disciplines (but especially for doctors) looking to enhance skills in teaching communication.

Vital Talk - the fabulous online and iPhone app ($2.99) resource for clinicians - a must see!

Oncotalk modules ***  
For a fast and comprehensive read 
•  Oncotalk teach   •   Oncotalk videos

I*Care from MD Anderson - The Foundations on Communication. Series of Videos and Interviews
Video: Fundamental Principles

Books

Mastering Communication with Seriously Ill Patients: Balancing Honesty with Empathy and Hope.  Anthony Back, Robert Arnold, James Tulsky. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY: 2009. ISBN: 978-0-521-70618-6

Podcasts

Listening Generously - An interview with Rachel Naomi Remen (Krista Tippett, On Being)

Articles

  • Back AL et al. Efficacy of Communication Skills Training for Giving Bad News and Discussing Transitions to Palliative Care. Arch Intern Med. 2007: 167(5):453-460.
  • West HF, Engelberg RA, Wenrich MD, Curtis JR. Expressions of nonabandonment during the intensive care unit family conference. http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/jpm.2005.8.797
For Nurses:
  • Medscape Features Article From the ELNEC Communication Module End-of-Life Care: Improving Communication Skills to Enhance Palliative Care (Learn the differences between hospice and palliative care, and how to communicate with patients and families to learn their end-of-life wishes. CE credits offered by Medscape Nurses without fee for this Web-based continuing education program. (One-time free registration required to access Medscape.))
Introducing Hospice:
  • “I'm Not Ready for Hospice”: Strategies for Timely and Effective Hospice Discussions David J. Casarett, MD, MA; and Timothy E. Quill, MD Ann Intern Med , March 20, 2007, vol. 146 no. 6 443-449
A Spiritual Approach:
  • Parker Palmer. The Clearness Committee: A Communal Approach to Discernment. This is a spiritual approach to listening, teaching, and learning.  Parker Palmer is an educator and Quaker.  He writes about how as teachers (and clinicians) there is an approach that is less authoritarian.
Proudly powered by Weebly