Communication Skills Training Increases Self-Efficacy of Health Care Professionals

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgitte Nørgaard ◽  
Jette Ammentorp ◽  
Kirsten Ohm Kyvik ◽  
Poul-Erik Kofoed
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Communication Skills Training

Conducting family meetings in palliative care: Themes, techniques, and preliminary evaluation of a communication skills module

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Gueguen ◽  
Carma L. Bylund ◽  
Richard F. Brown ◽  
Tomer T. Levin ◽  
David W. Kissane
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Communication Skills Training ◽  
Training Module ◽  
Family Meeting ◽  
Family Meetings

ABSTRACTObjective: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.Significance of results: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.

scholarly journals Consult, Negotiate, and Involve: Evaluation of an Advanced Communication Skills Program for Health Care Professionals

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 296-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Coad ◽  
Joanna Smith ◽  
David Pontin ◽  
Faith Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Young People ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Health Professionals ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Cancer Education ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Communication Skills Training ◽  
The Impact

Effective communication is central to children, young people, and their families’ experiences of health care. Most patient complaints in developed health care systems result from ineffective communication, including inadequate information provision, not feeling listened to, failure to value patients concerns, and patients not feeling involved in care decisions. Advanced communication skills training is now embedded within cancer care policy in the United Kingdom and now features prominently within cancer education in many countries. Here, we share findings from a research evaluation of an advanced communication skills training program dedicated to health professionals caring for children and young people with cancer. We evaluated participants’ (n = 59) perceptions of the program, impact on their skills, knowledge, competence, and confidence. An appreciative inquiry design was adopted; data included interviews, precourse-postcourse evaluations, e-mail blog survey, and 360-degree reflective work records. The framework approach underpinned data analysis and triangulation of data sets. Key findings highlighted good and poor practice in health professionals’ engagement with children, young people, and their families; the purpose of communicating effectively was not always consistent with collaborative working. Attending a program helped participants expand their knowledge of communication theories and strategies. Participants valued using simulated scenarios to develop their skills and were keen to use their new skills to enhance care delivery. Our emphasis within this evaluation, however, remained on what was communicated, when and how, rather than to what effect. The impact of programs such as these must now be evaluated in terms of patient benefit.

Assessment of the efficacy of communication skills training program for oncologists

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 216-222
Author(s):  
Giedrė Bulotienė ◽  
Gabrielė Jagelavičiūtė
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Training Program ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Confidence Level ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Communication Skills Training ◽  
Oncology Patients ◽  
Personal Opinion

Background. Effective communication is essential for cancer care therefore a communication skills training program was developed by the Lithuanian Association of Psychosocial Oncology. This study aims to identify the efficacy of the new program designed for Lithuanian specialists. Materials and methods. Self-report questionnaires for health care professionals were designed. Surveys were based on three topics – stress, confidence level, and personal opinion about the training and ability to apply learned communication skills. 88(67.2%) respondents completed the questionnaire. Results. Stress: 38.6% of respondents indicated that they usually experience stress while communicating with oncology patients or their relatives; Confidence level: 61.4% of participants agreed that their level of confidence improved after trainings. 83.0% of participants agreed that the  establishment of a  connection with patients and their relatives improved, but requires further development. The  participants’ personal opinion about specific aspects of the communication skills training was evaluated as well. It was found that women are more likely to think that their skill of empathy had developed, but still needed to be improved, while men believed that their empathy had not changed, or stated that it had developed and needed no further improvement (p = 0.003). Conclusions. The  study found improvements in participants’ confidence (61.4%) and specific skills while communicating with oncology patients (75.0–90.9%). Health care professionals evaluated the program as well and very well (86.4–92.1%). The Lithuanian communication skills training program is appropriate to use to enhance the quality of cancer care.

scholarly journals A staff training intervention to improve communication between people living with dementia and health-care professionals in hospital: the VOICE mixed-methods development and evaluation study

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (41) ◽  
pp. 1-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rowan H Harwood ◽  
Rebecca O’Brien ◽  
Sarah E Goldberg ◽  
Rebecca Allwood ◽  
Alison Pilnick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Health Care Professional ◽  
Communication Skills ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Communication Skills Training ◽  
Training Course ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Problems And Solutions

BackgroundTwenty-five per cent of hospital beds are occupied by a person living with dementia. Dementia affects expressive communication and understanding. Health-care professionals report a lack of communication skills training.ObjectivesTo identify teachable, effective strategies for communication between health-care professionals and people living with dementia, and to develop and evaluate a communication skills training course.DesignWe undertook a systematic literature review, video-recorded 41 encounters between staff and people with dementia, and used conversation analysis to investigate communication problems and solutions. We designed a communication skills training course using coproduction and multiple pedagogic approaches. We ran a pilot, followed by six courses for health-care professionals. We measured knowledge, confidence and communication behaviours before, immediately after and 1 month after the course, and undertook interviews with participants and managers. Behaviours were measured using blind-rated videos of simulations.SettingGeneral hospital acute geriatric medical wards and two hospital clinical skills centres.ParticipantsWe video-recorded 26 people with dementia and 26 professionals. Ten experts in dementia care, education, simulation and communication contributed to intervention development. Six health-care professionals took part in a pilot course, and 45 took part in the training.ResultsThe literature review identified 26 studies describing 10 communication strategies, with modest evidence of effectiveness. Health-care professional-initiated encounters followed a predictable phase structure. Problems were apparent in requests (with frequent refusals) and in closings. Success was more likely when requests were made directly, with high entitlement (authority to ask) and with lowered contingencies (made to sound less difficult, by minimising the extent or duration of the task, asking patients ‘to try’, offering help or proposing collaborative action). Closings were more successful if the health-care professional announced the end of the task, made a specific arrangement, body language matched talk, and through use of ‘closing idioms’. The training course comprised 2 days, 1 month apart, using experiential learning, including lectures, video workshops, small group discussions, simulations (with specially trained actors) and reflections. We emphasised the incorporation of previous expertise and commitment to person-centred care. Forty-four participants returned for the second training day and 43 provided complete evaluation data. Knowledge and confidence both increased. Some behaviours, especially relating to closings, were more commonly used after training. The course was rated highly in interviews, especially the use of simulations, real-life video clips and interdisciplinary learning. Participants reported that they found the methods useful in practice and were using them 1 month after the course finished.LimitationsData were from people with moderate to severe dementia, in an acute hospital, during health-care professional-initiated interactions. Analysis was limited to problems and solutions that were likely to be ‘trainable’. Actors required careful preparation to simulate people with dementia. Communication skills training course participants were volunteers, unlikely to be representative of the general workforce, who displayed high levels of baseline knowledge, confidence and skills. Before-and-after evaluations, and qualitative interviews, are prone to bias.ConclusionsRequests and closings pose particular difficulties for professionals communicating with people with dementia. We identified solutions to these problems and incorporated them into communication skills training, which improved knowledge, confidence and some communication behaviours. Simulation was an effective training modality.Future workFurther research should investigate a wider range of health, social care and family carers. Conversation analysis should be used to investigate other aspects of health-care communication.Study registrationThe systematic literature review is registered as CRD42015023437.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

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