TY  - CHAP
M1  - Book, Section
TI  - Communicating with Patients and Families
A1  - Baile, Walter F.
A2  - Duffy, James D.
A2  - Valentine, Alan D.
PY  - 2016
T2  - MD Anderson Manual of Psychosocial Oncology
AB  - The  clinical  encounter  with  cancer  patients  and  their  families  has  four  specific  communication  aims:  Gathering  information:  This  is  crucial  not  only  to  determining  the  clinical  diagnosis,  but  also  on  a  broader  and  more  "patient-centered"  level  to  determine  patients'  understanding  of  their  illness,  their  current  coping  and  attitude  toward  treatment,  the  role  of  the  family  and  other  support  available  to  them,  and  factors  that  may  present  impediments  to  the  ultimate  goal  of  effective  cancer  care.  Information  gathering  is  essential  not  only  at  the  initial  contact  with  the  patient  and  family,  but  also  all  along  the  cancer  trajectory  and  especially  important  at  milestones  such  as  treatment  failure,  the  development  of  serious  complications,  and  transition  from  aggressive  anticancer  treatment  to  supportive  care.Transmitting  information  to  the  patient  and  family:  Patients  and  family  members  rate  information  as  possibly  the  most  important  factor  in  helping  them  cope  with  their  cancer.1,2  It  is  also  associated  with  positive  effects  on  patient  coping.2,3,4  However,  it  is  also  probably  the  one  need  that  they  see  as  least  met  in  their  encounter  with  the  medical  team.5  While  information  to  the  patient  is  important  at  any  stage  of  cancer  treatment,  it  is  likely  to  be  most  sought  out  at  the  time  of  diagnosis,  when  there  are  complications  of  care,  and  at  crucial  transitions  such  as  the  initiation  of  new  treatment.6  Although  patients  may  seek  the  maximum  amount  of  information  about  their  disease  around  the  period  of  diagnosis  when  all  aspects  of  cancer  treatment  may  be  new  to  them,  it  is  likely  to  lessen  in  situations  where  the  disease  has  progressed  and  the  medical  details  of  the  "bad  news"  are  more  likely  to  be  shunned.  In  these  cases,  a  direct  explanation  of  a  treatment  plan  may  be  more  valuable  to  patients  than  their  seeing  a  CT  scan  with  widely  metastatic  disease.  Providing  information  is  best  conceptualized  as  a  dialogue  in  which  the  clinician  must  gauge  how  much  information  a  patient  can  process  at  one  time,  give  space  to  the  patient  to  ask  questions,  and  be  careful  not  to  use  jargon  or  "MedSpeak"  in  explaining  information  to  the  patient  and  family.Building  a  trusting  relationship  with  the  patient  and  family:  In  this  case,  the  two  key  elements  are  the  development  of  rapport  and  trust.  These  elements  are  essential  in  instilling  patient  confidence  in  the  care  provided  by  the  clinician,  achieving  compliance  with  treatment,  allowing  patients  to  feel  that  the  clinician  has  their  best  interest  at  heart  and  will  tell  them  the  truth  about  their  illness,  and  promoting  patient  satisfaction  with  care.  Paying  attention  to  skills  such  as  listening  and  attending  to  patient  concerns  is  the  foundation  for  building  a  relationship  based  on  collaboration  and  trust.Providing  support  to  the  patient  and  the  family:  This  is  directly  related  to  communication  techniques  for  exploring  and  understanding  patient  concerns  about  treatment,  demonstrating  empathic  understanding,  providing  realistic  hope  for  the  future,  and  reassuring  patients  that  they  will  not  be  abandoned  at  the  end  of  life.  
SN  - 
PB  - McGraw-Hill Education
CY  - New York, NY
Y2  - 2024/04/23
UR  - hemonc.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1125785878
ER  -