Journal
PATIENT EDUCATION AND COUNSELING
Volume 105, Issue 7, Pages 1963-1969Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2022.03.019
Keywords
Serious illness communication; Healthcare communication; Communication measurement; Communication pathways; Health outcomes
Funding
- Dutch Cancer Society [10392]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
High-quality communication can alleviate suffering during serious illness. There is a critical need to develop a basic science approach to serious illness communication research, which links the content of conversations with the experiences of patients and clinicians.
High-quality communication can mitigate suffering during serious illness. Innovations in theory and technology present the opportunity to advance serious illness communication research, moving beyond inquiry that links broad communication constructs to health outcomes toward operationalizing and understanding the impact of discrete communication functions on human experience. Given the high stakes of communication during serious illness, we see a critical need to develop a basic science approach to serious illness communication research. Such an approach seeks to link what actually happens during a conversation - the lexical and non-lexical communication content elements, as well as contextual factors - with the emotional and cognitive experiences of patients, caregivers, and clinicians. This paper defines and justifies a basic science approach to serious illness communication research and outlines investigative and methodological opportunities in this area. A systematic understanding of the building blocks of serious illness communication can help identify evidence-informed communication strategies that promote positive patient outcomes, shape more targeted communication skills training for clinicians, and lead to more tailored and meaningful serious illness care.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available