title: A Qualitative Exploration of a Clinical Ethicist's Role and Contributions During Family Meetings.
abstract: Despite the interpersonal nature of family meetings and the frequency in which they occur, the clinical ethics literature is devoid of any rich descriptions of what clinical ethicists should actually be doing during family meetings. Here, we propose a framework for describing and understanding "transitioning" facilitation skills based on a retrospective review of our internal documentation of 100 consecutive cases (June 01, 2013-December 31, 2014) wherein a clinical ethicist facilitated at least one family meeting. The internal documents were analyzed using qualitative methodologies, i.e., "codes", to identify emergent themes. We identified four different transitioning strategies clinical ethicists use to reach a meaningful resolution. These transitioning strategies serve as a jumping-off point for additional analyses, future research, evaluating clinical ethics consultation, and overall performance improvement of a consultation service.
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, MS: BCM 420, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. crbruce@bcm.edu.|Houston Methodist Hospital System, Houston Methodist Hospital System Biomedical Ethics Program, Houston, TX, USA. crbruce@bcm.edu.
authors.forename: Courtenay R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, MS: BCM 420, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.|Houston Methodist Hospital System, Houston Methodist Hospital System Biomedical Ethics Program, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Trevor M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Bibler
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, MS: BCM 420, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.|Houston Methodist Hospital System, Houston Methodist Hospital System Biomedical Ethics Program, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pena
authors.affiliation: Center for Medical Ethics & Health Policy, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, MS: BCM 420, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.|Houston Methodist Hospital System, Houston Methodist Hospital System Biomedical Ethics Program, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Betsy
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kusin
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D004282:Documentation / Q000592:standards; D026822:Ethicists; D033061:Ethics Consultation / Q000592:standards; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D024382:Professional Role / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: Clinical ethics consultation; Communication; Decision-making; Facilitation; Family meetings