Background:
One of the major causes of dissatisfaction amongst cancer patients is deficient communication with health personnel, which increases psychological distress.
Aims:
To train a wide variety of professionals involved in cancer care to effectively communicate with cancer patients.
Method:
Southern Health and Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (SMICS) collaborated to develop a series of interactive multidisciplinary communication skills training workshops. Professional actors were used for each workshop.
Modules included:
• Discussing Bad News
• Relaying A New Diagnosis,
• Stopping Active Treatment
• How To Discuss End Of Life Care
• How To Conduct A Family Meeting
Results:
Ten communication skills workshops were delivered over the course of this year. Each module was delivered twice. Enrolment was limited to 10 participants per workshop. They were attended by 93 health care professions comprising 33 nurses, 28 allied health staff and 32 doctors.
Participants were surveyed prior to, on completion of, and 3 months post each workshop. Utilising a Likert scale, the participants indicated the degree to which they use certain communication strategies and their level of confidence in having difficult discussions with patients and families. All participants agreed that they would recommend the workshops to others. Immediately post workshop 88% of respondents (n = 75) indicated that their confidence in communication with patients had increased. Respondents three months post workshop also reported confidence in having difficult discussions and indicated that they are utilising the skills learned.
Conclusions:
The program has been successful in attracting participants and equipping them with simple yet effective skills to improve communication. The use of professional actors creates more realistic experiences for participants. The confidence gained allows these skills to become incorporated into routine practice. The interactive style of these workshops has proven popular and feasible. With organisational support, they can be expanded to a larger audience.