Conducting family meetings in palliative care: themes, techniques, and preliminary evaluation of a communication skills module.
OBJECTIVE
To develop a communication skills training module for health care professionals about how to conduct a family meeting in palliative care and to evaluate the module in terms of participant self-efficacy and satisfaction.


METHODS
Forty multispecialty health care professionals from the New York metropolitan area attended a communication skills training module at a Comprehensive Cancer Center about how to conduct a family meeting in oncology. The modular content was based on the Comskil model and current literature in the field.


RESULTS
Based on a retrospective pre-post measure, participants reported a significant increase in self-efficacy about their ability to conduct a family meeting. Furthermore, at least 93% of participants expressed their satisfaction with various aspects of the module by agreeing or strongly agreeing with statements on the course evaluation form.


CONCLUSIONS
Family meetings play a significant role in the palliative care setting, where family support for planning and continuing care is vital to optimize patient care. Although these meetings can be challenging, this communication skills module is effective in increasing the confidence of participants in conducting a family meeting.
Gueguen
Jennifer A
JA
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York 10022, USA.
Bylund
Carma L
CL
Brown
Richard F
RF
Levin
Tomer T
TT
Kissane
David W
DW
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003142:Communication; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000379:methods*; D017145:Models, Educational; D009518:New York; D009859:Oncology Nursing; D010166:Palliative Care; D011361:Professional Competence; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support