title: Take the HEAT: A pilot study on improving communication with angry families.
abstract: Our objective was to evaluate the utility of an educational program consisting of a workshop based on the Take the HEAT communication strategy, designed specifically for addressing patients who are angry, using a novel tool to evaluate residents' skills in employing this method.
  
  
  
  33 first-year pediatric and internal medicine-pediatrics residents participated in the study. The workshop presented the Take the HEAT (Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Take action) strategy of communication. Communication skills were assessed through standardized patient encounters at baseline and post-workshop. Encounters were scored using a novel assessment tool.
  
  
  
  After the workshop, residents' Take the HEAT communication improved from baseline total average score 23.15 to total average score 25.36 (Z=-3.428, p<0.001). At baseline, empathy skills were the lowest. Intraclass Correlation Coefficient demonstrated substantial agreement (0.60 and 0.61) among raters using the tool.
  
  
  
  First-year pediatric trainees' communication with angry families improved with education focused on the Take the HEAT strategy. Poor performance by residents in demonstrating empathy should be explored further.
  
  
  
  This study demonstrates the utility of a brief communications curriculum aimed at improving pediatric residents' ability to communicate with angry families.
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 370 W 9th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. Electronic address: Nicolas.delacruz@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Delacruz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: Ansley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Splinter
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: Stacy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flowers
authors.affiliation: The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 370 W 9th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Verbeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Turpening
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH 43205, USA.
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mahan
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000379:methods*; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000193:education*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D015397:Program Evaluation
keywords: Angry patients; Communication skills; Empathy; Medical education; Novel tool creation