TY - JOUR
T1 - Approaching difficult communication tasks in oncology
AU - Back, Anthony L.
AU - Arnold, Robert M.
AU - Baile, Walter F.
AU - Tulsky, James A.
AU - Fryer-Edwards, Kelly
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - Effective communication skills enable physicians to improve patients' understanding of their illnesses, improve patient adherence to treatment regimens, use time efficiently, avoid burnout, and increase professional fulfillment. Common communication pitfalls include blocking, lecturing, depending on a routine, collusion, and premature reassurance. Fundamental communication skills include "ask-tell-ask," "tell me more," and responding empathetically. Key communication tasks that are linked to the illness trajectory include: the first visit, giving bad news, making anticancer treatment decisions, offering clinical trials, completing anticancer therapy, and discontinuing palliative chemotherapy. While enhancing or acquiring new skills ultimately requires practice and feedback over time, this article provides a cognitive map for important communication skills that physicians need over the course of caring for a person with cancer.
AB - Effective communication skills enable physicians to improve patients' understanding of their illnesses, improve patient adherence to treatment regimens, use time efficiently, avoid burnout, and increase professional fulfillment. Common communication pitfalls include blocking, lecturing, depending on a routine, collusion, and premature reassurance. Fundamental communication skills include "ask-tell-ask," "tell me more," and responding empathetically. Key communication tasks that are linked to the illness trajectory include: the first visit, giving bad news, making anticancer treatment decisions, offering clinical trials, completing anticancer therapy, and discontinuing palliative chemotherapy. While enhancing or acquiring new skills ultimately requires practice and feedback over time, this article provides a cognitive map for important communication skills that physicians need over the course of caring for a person with cancer.
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U2 - 10.3322/canjclin.55.3.164
DO - 10.3322/canjclin.55.3.164
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15890639
AN - SCOPUS:20344385964
SN - 0007-9235
VL - 55
SP - 164
EP - 177
JO - Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
JF - Ca-A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
IS - 3
ER -