A complex communication skills training program for physicians providing advanced cancer care - content development and barriers and solutions for implementation.

Background: Early integration of oncology and patient-centered palliative care is the recommended clinical practice model for patients with advanced cancer. General and specific communication skills are necessary to achieve integrated patient-centered care, but require organized training to be adequately mastered. Challenges and barriers on several levels, i.e. organizational, professional and individual may, however, hamper implementation. The development, implementation, and evaluation of such an educational program focusing on communication skills contain many steps, considerations and lessons learned, which are described in this article.Methods: A multi-professional faculty developed, implemented, and evaluated an educational program through a 5-step approach. The program was part of a Norwegian cluster-randomized controlled trial aiming to test the effect of early integration of oncology and palliative care for patients with advanced cancer.Results: The result is the PALLiON educational program; a multi-faceted, evidence-based, and learner-centered program with a specific focus on physicians' communication skills. Four modules were developed: lectures, discussion groups, skills training, and coaching. These were implemented at the six intervention hospitals using different teaching strategies. Evaluation in a subgroup of participants showed a positive appraisal of the group discussions and skills training.Conclusion:We present our experiences and reflections regarding implementation and lessons learned, which should be considered in future developments and implementations; (1) Include experienced faculty with various backgrounds, (2) Be both evidence-based and learner-centered, (3) Choose teaching strategies wisely, (4) Expect resistance and skepticism, (5) Team up with management and gatekeepers, (6) Expect time to fly, and (7) Plan thorough assessment of the evaluation and effect.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03088202.

The longitudinal course of anxiety, depression and apathy through two years after stroke.

OBJECTIVE: Estimate the prevalence of anxiety disorders, depressive disorders and apathy two years after stroke, examine their longitudinal course, describe the course of psychological distress through two years after stroke, and evaluate Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale HADS-A and HADS-D cut-off scores of ≥4 and ≥ 8 for detection of anxiety and depressive disorders two years after stroke. METHODS: In a longitudinal cohort study of 150 consecutive stroke patients in a stroke unit, 103 were assessed four months and 75 two years after stroke. Anxiety and depression disorders and symptoms were assessed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and HADS, apathy by the Apathy Evaluation Scale. RESULTS: Prevalence of at least one anxiety disorder or one depressive disorder decreased from four months to two years (23% vs 9%, P = 0.026, 19% vs 10%, P = 0.17). Apathy remained stable at 48% vs 50%. After two years, 80%, 79% and 19% of those with anxiety, depression or apathy at four months had recovered. Recovery-rates among patients with anxiety were 83% for panic disorder, 60% for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and 50% for social phobia. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to apathy, recovery from anxiety and depression was high. About half of the patients with GAD, social phobia or agoraphobia did not recover. Co-morbid depression and apathy at four months implied a high risk for not recovering at two years. HADS-A and HADS-D cut-off scores of ≥8 were feasible for detection of anxiety and depression disorders two years after stroke.

Medical students' experiences when empathizing with patients' emotional issues during a medical interview - a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: There is evidence that empathy decreases as medical students go through clinical training. However, there are few in-depth studies investigating the students' own experiences when trying to empathize in concrete clinical encounters. We therefore wanted to explore medical students' perceptions, experiences, and reflections when empathizing with patients expressing emotional issues. METHODS: A qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews with third year medical students (N = 11) was conducted using video-stimulated recall from their own medical interview with a simulated chronically ill patient. Students were led to believe that the patient was real. RESULTS: Five themes which may influence student empathy during history-taking were identified through analysis of interview data: (1) Giving priority to medical history taking, (2) Interpreting the patient's worry as lack of medical information, (3) Conflict between perspectives, (4) Technical communication skill rather than authentic and heart-felt and (5) The distant professional role. CONCLUSIONS: The participating students described conflicts between a medical agenda, rules and norms for professional conduct and the students' own judgments when trying to empathize with the patient. To our knowledge, this is the first study ever to document the students' own perspective in concrete situations as well as how these reported experiences and reflections affect their empathy towards patients. Since we now know more about what is likely to hinder medical students' empathy, educators should actively encourage group reflection and discussion in order to avoid these negative effects of history taking both inside and outside of the clinical setting.

Caught between ideals and reality: Phenomenological-hermeneutic study of healthcare providers' experiences while interacting with mechanically ventilated patients.

This study aimed to explore healthcare providers' experiences of their communication and interaction with conscious patients on mechanical ventilation in intensive care. Nurses, physicians, and physiotherapists were interviewed after they had been video recorded in naturally occurring interactions with patients. The interviews were analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. Three themes were identified: The willingness to engage and understand the mechanically ventilated patient, the potential risk of neglecting the patient in the encounters, and provider interdependence as the core of intensive care. The themes elicited how providers handled the dissonance between their own personal ideals of care and their real-world encounters with patients and other professionals. The healthcare providers were aware of how easily patients could be neglected while being non-vocal, and therefore invested time and effort communicating with the patients. Based on their personal ideals of patient participation and autonomy, it was difficult to perform procedures, such as weaning off the ventilator or mobilization, to which the patient was opposed. Interprofessional collaboration was valued by the providers in such situations. The study revealed that providers need to consider the communication barriers that exist on the individual and team levels when interacting with patients on mechanical ventilation.

The first steps towards professional distance: A sequential analysis of students' interactions with patients expressing emotional issues in medical interviews.

OBJECTIVE: Explore sequential patterns in students' interactions with patients expressing emotional concerns in a medical interview. METHODS: Concepts and principles from conversation analysis (CA) were used to examine the turn-by-turn sequential organization of student actions in eleven video-taped medical interviews. We used results from an earlier coding with an interaction analysis system (VR-CoDES) in a previously published paper as a point of reference. RESULTS: By using CA instead of VR-CoDES as our primary investigative method we observed that student turns previously coded as elicitations to simulated patients' expressions of emotion were often preceded by subtle patient initiatives. Students encouraged further elaboration by displaying their understanding of the emotional issue as a story telling still in progress. Students' expressions of understanding however, gave little room for further elaboration. Finally, students often addressed emotional issues as a medical issue and offered professional advice. CONCLUSIONS: Students' actions seemed specifically designed to display interest in the patients' initiatives to talk about emotional experiences without departing from their initial interview task or violating norms for professional conduct. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Educators and practitioners should reconsider how the medical interview may shape expectations for professional conduct and can thereby unintentionally restrict students' empathy development.

From Observation to Action: Developing and Pilot-Testing a Communication Tool for Follow-up Consultations with Adolescent Cancer Survivors.

Purpose: Efficient physician communication with adolescent cancer survivors (ACS) during follow-up consultations is important to enable survivors to take responsibility for their health. The present study had two aims: to develop a communication tool to enhance structured consultations and improve clinician communication in follow-up consultations, and to pilot-test the tool in physicians' consultations with ACS. Methods: Clinicians and communication experts collaborated closely to develop the 7 Memory Hooks (7MH) communication tool and a corresponding coding scheme for scoring communication behavior in consultations. Thirty-seven follow-up consultations between ACS and physicians were video-recorded (22 before intervention and 15 after intervention). The intervention consisted of a didactic lecture, a group workshop, and individual coaching to provide feedback to physicians on the communication skills observed in the pre-intervention videos. We then compared physicians' communication behavior both before and after intervention. Results: Fourteen physicians participated in the 7MH training. The mean total score on the 7MH scheme was significantly higher post-intervention compared with pre-intervention (p = 0.001). Six behaviors changed significantly after the intervention. At a group level, physicians were more likely to be alone with the adolescent (p = 0.004) and to prepare the patient for transition to adult heath care (p = 0.040). They asked more often about the patients' expectations (p = 0.007) and resources ((p = 0.019). And they acknowledged patients' concerns more often (p = 0.016) but talked significantly less about physical activity (p = 0.012). Conclusion: A physician communication tool, designed bottom-up and developed in collaboration with the clinic, shows promising effects on physicians' communication behavior at follow-up consultations with ACS.

Medical students' expressions of empathy: A qualitative study of verbal interactions with patients expressing emotional issues in a medical interview.

OBJECTIVE: Explore medical students' verbal responses to patients expressing emotional issues in a medical interview. METHODS: Eleven third-year students were instructed to conduct a medical interview with a simulated chronically ill patient while being videotaped (but were led to believe that the patient was real). An interaction analysis system (VR-CoDES) was used to identify patient utterances containing emotional expressions as well as student utterances responding to these emotional expressions. A qualitative content analysis of student utterances was then conducted. RESULTS: Four categories that depicted student responses were identified: (1) questions focusing on a medico-professional agenda, (2) allowing disclosure of emotions without explicit acknowledgment of emotions, (3) attempts at reassurance, and (4) explicit recognition of emotions, but most often on a factual and descriptive level. CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis indicate that these students gave priority to medico-professional tasks and responsibilities in their responses. They demonstrated some interest in the patient's emotional experiences whilst most often leaving out their own personal perspectives. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Communication skills curricula should address how the medical interview affects empathy and interaction with patients and encourage discussion and reflection on how to retrieve medical information while paying adequate attention to the patient's and own emotions, experiences, and perspectives.