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Does communication skills training make a difference to patients' experiences of consultations in oncology and palliative care services?
Author(s) -
Johnson L.A.,
Gorman C.,
Morse R.,
Firth M.,
Rushbrooke S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
european journal of cancer care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1365-2354
pISSN - 0961-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ecc.12014
Subject(s) - medicine , communication skills training , empathy , intervention (counseling) , palliative care , communication skills , health care , nursing , health professionals , perception , patient satisfaction , family medicine , medical education , psychology , psychiatry , neuroscience , economics , economic growth
There is much evidence supporting the efficacy of communication skills training; however, very little of this evidence comes from patient feedback. The primary aim of this pilot study was to evaluate whether the advanced communications skills training improves patients' experience of consultations. Healthcare professionals working in oncology and palliative care services from the North East of England were invited to participate in this study. Interactions between healthcare professionals ( n = 21) and patients ( n = 1103) were evaluated using the C onsultation and R elational E mpathy ( CARE ) Measure, which is a brief questionnaire designed to assess the patients' perceptions of relational empathy in the consultation. Additional demographic variables, such as patient age, length of consultation, familiarity with healthcare professional and overall satisfaction with consultation, were also collected. Healthcare professionals were either part of the intervention group who attended a 3‐day communication skills training course or part of the control group who were on the waiting list for training. No differences in the patients' ratings on the CARE measure were found between T ime 1 (before training) and T ime 2 (after training) for the intervention group. Possible explanations for the findings are explored and implications for communication skills training are discussed.