Specialist call handlers' perspectives on providing help on a cancer helpline: A qualitative interview study.

OBJECTIVE: To identify call handlers' key experiences of providing telephone help on a cancer helpline. METHODS: Semi-structured qualitative interviews with 30 call handlers from three UK-based cancer helplines. Transcribed interview data were analysed thematically. RESULTS: Thematic analysis identified three themes: (a) call handlers' perceptions of their role on the helpline, (b) challenges of working on a helpline and (c) the need for training/keeping up with competencies. Call handlers reported satisfaction with their experience. However, there are tensions: whilst advice is formally not part of the remit of the helpline, in practice the boundary between giving advice and giving information can be blurred. No follow-up with callers could be difficult and experienced as a lost opportunity to help. Managing patient expectations could be challenging, and interviewees described particular difficulties with distressed callers. Training for the role was commonplace, but there was sometimes a desire for more opportunities. CONCLUSION: There are challenges faced by helpline staff, and it can be difficult to manage callers' distress and expectations of what they might get from a call experience. Recognising the skill and complexity of the call handler role is important, as it is meeting call handlers' support and training needs. Support is important to minimise the risk to their own emotional well-being.

Communication in Primary Healthcare: A State-of-the-Art Literature Review of Conversation-Analytic Research.

We report the first state-of-the-art review of conversation-analytic (CA) research on communication in primary healthcare. We conducted a systematic search across multiple bibliographic databases and specialist sources and employed backward and forward citation tracking. We included 177 empirical studies spanning four decades of research and 16 different countries/health systems, with data in 17 languages. The majority of studies originated in United States and United Kingdom and focused on medical visits between physicians and adult patients. We generated three broad research themes in order to synthesize the study findings: managing agendas, managing participation, and managing authority. We characterize the state-of-the-art for each theme, illustrating the progression of the work and making comparisons across different languages and health systems, where possible. We consider practical applications of the findings, reflect on the state of current knowledge, and suggest some directions for future research. Data reported are in multiple languages.

Parent and Clinician Views of Managing Children with Symptoms of a Lower Respiratory Tract Infection and Their Influence upon Decisions to Take Part in a Placebo-Controlled Randomised Control Trial.

Children presenting with uncomplicated lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) commonly receive antibiotics despite public campaigns on antibiotic resistance. Qualitative interview studies were nested in a placebo-controlled trial of amoxicillin for LRTI in children. Thirty semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with sixteen parents and fourteen clinicians to explore views of management and decisions to participate in the trial. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Parents found it difficult to interpret symptoms and signs, and commonly used the type of cough (based on sound) to judge severity, highlighting the importance of better information to support parents. Provision of a clinical examination and reassurance regarding illness severity were key motivations for consulting. Many parents now acknowledge that antibiotics should only be used when 'necessary', and clinicians reported noticing a shift in parent attitudes with less demand for antibiotics and greater satisfaction with clinical assessment, reassurance and advice. Decisions to take part in the trial were influenced by the perceived risks associated with allocation to a placebo, and concerns about unnecessary use of antibiotics. Clear communication about self-management and safety-netting were identified as important when implementing 'no antibiotic' prescribing strategies to reassure parents and to support prescribing decisions.

Closing calls to a cancer helpline: Expressions of caller satisfaction.

OBJECTIVE: This study provides an alternative approach to assessing caller satisfaction focussing on how callers express their appreciation of the service provided during the call, as the calls draw to a close. METHODS: Conversation analysis is used to analyse 99 calls between callers and cancer specialist nurses on a leading cancer helpline in the UK. RESULTS: Caller satisfaction is expressed through upgraded forms of the appreciations through which callers begin to close the call. Dissatisfaction is conveyed in what are by comparison with expressions of satisfaction, downgraded forms which acknowledge but do not fully or enthusiastically appreciate the information/advice given. With latter calls, nurses begin to 're-open' aspects of information/advice giving, thereby leading to more protracted call closings. CONCLUSION: Endogenous indicators of caller satisfaction are displayed through callers' upgraded appreciations in the closing moments of helpline calls. Difficulties in terminating calls (protracted by nurses re-opening information-giving etc.) arise when callers do not convey their satisfaction with the service provided. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: An understanding of endogenous indicators of satisfaction may benefit helpline organisations and further their understanding of effective call-handling, particularly through identifying the features common to those calls in which callers do not display their satisfaction with the call.