Instrumental and affective communication with patients with limited health literacy in the palliative phase of cancer or COPD

Compassionate care through the eyes of patients and physicians: An interview study

BACKGROUND

Although compassion is a crucial element of physicians' professional performance and high-quality care, research shows it often remains an unmet need of patients. Understanding patients' and physicians' perspectives on compassionate care may provide insights that can be used to foster physicians' ability to respond to patients' compassion needs. Therefore, this study aims to understand how both patients and physicians experience the concept and practice of compassionate care.

METHODS

We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight patients and ten resident physicians at a University Medical Center in the Netherlands. Using thematic analysis, we separately coded patient and resident transcripts to identify themes capturing their experiences of compassionate care. This study was part of a larger project to develop an educational intervention to improve compassion in residents.

RESULTS

For both patients and residents, we identified four themes encompassing compassionate care: being there, empathizing, actions to relieve patients' suffering, and connection. For residents, a fifth theme was professional fulfillment (resulting from compassionate care). Although patients and residents both emphasized the importance of compassionate care, patients did not always perceive the physician-patient encounter as compassionate. According to residents, high workloads and time pressures hindered their ability to provide compassionate care.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Patients and residents have similar and varying understandings of compassionate care at the same time. Understanding these differences can aid compassion in medical practice. Based on the findings, three topics are suggested to improve compassion in residents: (1) train residents how to ask for patients' compassion needs, (2) address residents' limiting beliefs about the concept and practice of compassion, and (3) acknowledge the art and science of medicine cannot be separated.

Challenges to Exploring the Patient Perspective in Palliative Care Conversations: A Qualitative Study Among Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Chronic Heart Failure Patients and Their Health Care Professionals

Objectives

The aim of this study was to reveal the challenges faced in exploring the patient's perspective as experienced by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or chronic heart failure and their health care professionals (HCPs), including the circumstances under which these challenges are experienced during palliative care conversations.

Methods

This is a qualitative, explorative study in the Netherlands using purposive sampling to create diversity in demographic variables of both patients and HCPs. Semistructured interviews with 12 patients and 7 HCPs were carried out with the use of topic lists. All interviews were audiorecorded, verbatim transcribed, and thematically analyzed.

Results

Patients find it challenging to express their wishes, preferences, and boundaries and say what is really preoccupying them, especially when they do not feel a good connection with their HCP. HCPs find it challenging to get to know the patient and discuss the patient's perspective particularly when patients are not proactive, open or realistic, or unable to understand or recall information.

Conclusions

Patients and HCPs seem to share the same aim: patients want to be known and understood and HCPs want to know and understand the patient as a unique individual. At the same time, they seem unable to personalize their conversations. To move beyond this impasse patients and HCPs need to take steps and be empowered to do so.

A collaboration to harmonize COVID-19 health messaging and fill communication gaps during initial U.S. refugee resettlement

To communicate with U.S.-bound refugees during travel to the United States during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, five federal and international organizations collaborated in a strategic work group to synergize COVID-19 prevention health messaging and COVID-19 considerations before, during, and after travel, as well as promote shared resources. This work group sought to establish consistent COVID-19 messaging, disseminate messages to partners, and identify message gaps as the pandemic evolved. In early Fall 2020, CDC released new communication materials, including a fact sheet, a welcome booklet, and infographics translated into 19 languages, to address refugee health partners' need for culturally and linguistically concordant educational materials for refugees. Rapidly changing health communications needs during the pandemic fostered opportunities for collaboration among federal and refugee health partners and highlighted a long-standing need among agencies to address health messaging across the continuum of care for refugees.

Communication of benefits and harms in shared decision making with patients with limited health literacy: A systematic review of risk communication strategies

OBJECTIVES

Risk communication (RC), as part of shared decision making, is challenging with people with limited health literacy (LHL). We aim to provide an overview of strategies to communicate benefits and harms of diagnostic and treatment options to this group.

METHODS

We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Cinahl and PsycInfo. We included 28 studies on RC in informed/shared decision making without restriction to a health setting or condition and using a broad conceptualization of health literacy. Two researchers independently selected studies and one researcher performed data extraction. We descriptively compared findings for people with LHL towards recommendations for RC.

RESULTS

Health literacy levels varied in the included studies. Most studies used experimental designs, primarily on visual RC. Findings show verbal RC alone should be avoided. Framing of risk information influences risk perception (less risky when positively framed, riskier when negatively framed). Most studies recommended the use of icon arrays. Graph literacy should be considered when using visual RC.

CONCLUSIONS

The limited available evidence suggests that recommended RC strategies seem mainly to be valid for people with LHL, but more research is required.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

More qualitative research involving people with LHL is needed to gain further in-depth insights into optimal RC strategies.

PROTOCOL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO ID 275022.

COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS NEEDED IN THE MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC PATIENTS' NEEDS THROUGH TELECARE

OBJECTIVE

Aim: To identify the necessary competencies that future professionals must obtain in order to effectively manage patients with chronic conditions. We employed a multilayer review in PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Materials and Methods: We applied three searches in PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane using various terms in order to identify the necessary skills and competences needed for healthcare professionals to provide distance care in patients with chronic conditions. From the initial search, a total of 1008 studies were identified while 54 met the inclusion criteria and were retained for data extraction. After the review of the 54 studies, we grouped the proposed skills and competencies in eight major categories. Those groups were Clinical Knowledge, Critical Thinking Skills, Technological Skills, Clinical skills, Communication skills, Implementation skills, Professionalism and professional ethics, Evidence based Practice.

CONCLUSION

Conclusions: Although telehealth is gaining ground in healthcare practice and healthcare professionals possess the necessary knowledge and skills to provide safe, effective, and personalized care, additional specialized training is nevertheless required to provide telecare. Therefore, the integration of telehealth into various healthcare professions curricula - both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels - is required for the development of education and the dynamic development of healthcare.

Knowledge and skills used for clinical decision-making on childbirth interventions: A qualitative study among midwives in the Netherlands

INTRODUCTION

Appropriate use of interventions in maternity care is a worldwide issue. Midwifery-led models of care are associated with more efficient use of resources, fewer medical interventions, and improved outcomes. However, the use of interventions varies considerably between midwives. The aim of this study was to explore how knowledge and skills influence clinical decision-making of midwives on the appropriate use of childbirth interventions.

METHODS

A qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 20 primary care midwives was performed in June 2019. Participants’ clinical experience varied in the use of interventions. The interviews combined a narrative approach with a semi-structured question route. Data were analyzed using deductive content analysis.

RESULTS

‘Knowledge’, ‘Critical thinking skills’, and ‘Communication skills’ influenced midwives’ clinical decision-making towards childbirth interventions. Midwives obtained their knowledge through the formal education program and extended their knowledge by reflecting on experiences and evidence. Midwives with a low use of interventions seem to have a higher level of reflective skills, including reflection-in-action. These midwives used a more balanced communication style with instrumental and affective communication skills in interaction with women, and have more skills to engage in discussions during collaboration with other professionals, and thus personalizing their care.

CONCLUSIONS

Midwives with a low use of interventions seemed to have the knowledge and skills of a reflective practitioner, leading to more personalized care compared to standardized care as defined in protocols. Learning through reflectivity, critical thinking skills, and instrumental and affective communication skills, need to be stimulated and trained to pursue appropriate, personalized use of interventions.

'A basic understanding'; evaluation of a blended training programme for healthcare providers in hospital-based palliative care to improve communication with patients with limited health literacy

BACKGROUND

The non-curative setting makes communication and shared decision-making in palliative care extremely demanding. This is even more so for patients with limited health literacy. So far, research in palliative care focusing on shared decision-making with patients with limited health literacy is lacking. Recent research from our team indicates that the assessment of these patients' understanding of their situation and the implementation of shared decision-making in palliative care, needs improvement.

METHODS

To improve communication and decision-making, especially with patients with limited health literacy, we developed and evaluated a blended training programme for healthcare providers. The training programme comprised of an e-learning and a team training. The evaluation was performed by 1. conducting interviews (n = 15) focused on evaluating the whole programme and, 2. coding video-recorded outpatient consultations on the extent to which providers involved patients in decision-making before (n = 19) and after (n = 20) the intervention, using the 5-item OPTION coding instrument.

RESULTS

The interviews showed that healthcare providers valued the skills they had learned during the e-learning and team training. Providers specifically valued the teach-back technique, learned to use simpler wording and felt better able to recognize patients with limited health literacy. Many providers reported a change in communication behaviour as a consequence of the training programme. Suggestions for improvement for both e-learning and training were, amongst others, a follow-up team training course and a new scenarios for the e-learning about discussing palliative care. For both the pre- and the post-measurement, involving patients in decision-making lies between a minimal and a moderate effort; differences were not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The e-learning and team training were valued positively by the healthcare providers. Adaptations to the e-learning have been made after evaluation. The e-learning has been implemented in several hospitals and medical education. To improve shared decision-making in practice a more sustained effort is needed.

How doctors manage conflicts with families of critically ill patients during conversations about end-of-life decisions in neonatal, pediatric, and adult intensive care

PURPOSE

Intensive care is a stressful environment in which team-family conflicts commonly occur. If managed poorly, conflicts can have negative effects on all parties involved. Previous studies mainly investigated these conflicts and their management in a retrospective way. This study aimed to prospectively explore team-family conflicts, including its main topics, complicating factors, doctors' conflict management strategies and the effect of these strategies.

METHODS

Conversations between doctors in the neonatal, pediatric, and adult intensive care unit of a large university-based hospital and families of critically ill patients were audio-recorded from the moment doubts arose whether treatment was still in patients' best interest. Transcripts were coded and analyzed using a qualitative deductive approach.

RESULTS

Team-family conflicts occurred in 29 out of 101 conversations (29%) concerning 20 out of 36 patients (56%). Conflicts mostly concerned more than one topic. We identified four complicating context- and/or family-related factors: diagnostic and prognostic uncertainty, families' strong negative emotions, limited health literacy, and burden of responsibility. Doctors used four overarching strategies to manage conflicts, namely content-oriented, process-oriented, moral and empathic strategies. Doctors mostly used content-oriented strategies, independent of the intensive care setting. They were able to effectively address conflicts in most conversations. Yet, if they did not acknowledge families' cues indicating the existence of one or more complicating factors, conflicts were likely to linger on during the conversation.

CONCLUSION

This study underlines the importance of doctors tailoring their communication strategies to the concrete conflict topic(s) and to the context- and family-related factors which complicate a specific conflict.

Persuasive communication in medical decision-making during consultations with patients with limited health literacy in hospital-based palliative care

OBJECTIVE

Both patients in the palliative phase of their disease and patients with limited health literacy (LHL) have an increased risk of being influenced by healthcare providers (HCPs) when making decisions. This study aims to explore to what extent persuasive communication occurs during shared decision-making (SDM) by (1) providing an overview of persuasive communication behaviours relevant for medical decision-making and (2) exemplifying these using real-life outpatient consultations.

METHODS

An exploratory qualitative design was applied: (1) brief literature review; (2) analysis of verbatim extracts from outpatient consultations and stimulated recall sessions with HCPs; and (3) stakeholder meetings.

RESULTS

24 different persuasive communication behaviours were identified, which can be divided in seven categories: biased presentation of information, authoritative framing, probability framing, illusion of decisional control, normative framing, making assumptions and using emotions or feelings.

CONCLUSIONS

Persuasive communication is multi-faceted in outpatient consultations. Although undesirable, it may prove useful in specific situations making it necessary to study the phenomenon more in depth and deepen our understanding of its mechanisms and impact.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Awareness among HCPs about the use of persuasive communication needs to be created through training and education. Also, HCPs need help in providing balanced information.

Health literacy in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care: a narrative review and future directions

Respiratory self-care places considerable demands on patients with chronic airways disease (AD), as they must obtain, understand and apply information required to follow their complex treatment plans. If clinical and lifestyle information overwhelms patients' HL capacities, it reduces their ability to self-manage. This review outlines important societal, individual, and healthcare system factors that influence disease management and outcomes among patients with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-the two most common ADs. For this review, we undertook a comprehensive literature search, conducted reference list searches from prior HL-related publications, and added insights from international researchers and scientists with an interest in HL. We identified methodological limitations in currently available HL measurement tools in respiratory care. We also summarized the issues contributing to low HL and system-level cultural incompetency that continue to be under-recognized in AD management and contribute to suboptimal patient outcomes. Given that impaired HL is not commonly recognized as an important factor in AD care, we propose a three-level patient-centered model (strategies) designed to integrate HL considerations, with the goal of enabling health systems to enhance service delivery to meet the needs of all AD patients.

Towards an open and effective dialogue on complementary medicine in oncology: protocol of patient participatory study 'COMMON'

INTRODUCTION

Approximately half of patients with cancer use some form of complementary medicine alongside conventional cancer treatment. The topic of complementary medicine often remains undiscussed in consultations between patients with cancer and their healthcare providers. This results in increased risks for adverse or interaction effects and decreased access to the benefits of evidence-based complementary medicine for patients with cancer. This paper describes the design of patient participatory study titled 'COMMON' that aims to explore and enhance open and effective communication about complementary medicine in oncology. The study is carried out in collaboration with 12 (former) patients with breast cancer as coresearchers.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

The study complies with the six steps of the intervention mapping framework. Three non-academic hospitals recruit participants (patients with cancer, oncology healthcare providers and managers) for interviews about the organisation, experiences and needs regarding complementary medicine. To assess communication about complementary medicine, recorded oncology consultations are analysed. For an overview of evidence-based complementary medicine available to patients with cancer, a review of reviews is conducted on the evidence on cancer patient-reported outcomes of complementary medicine frequently used by patients with cancer, supplemented with an online search and survey among organisations and persons providing complementary medicine to patients with cancer. Together, these steps generate input for the development of a toolbox that supports an open and effective discussion on complementary medicine in oncology. In a pilot study, acceptability and usability of the toolbox are assessed among patients with cancer and oncology healthcare providers. Dissemination of the toolbox is covered by the commitment of stakeholder parties.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The Medical Ethics Committee Arnhem-Nijmegen declared the study was exempted from formal approval under the Dutch Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act. The results will be disseminated through open-access, peer-reviewed publications, stakeholder-reporting and presentations at relevant conferences.

How doctors make themselves understood in primary care consultations: A mixed methods analysis of video data applying health literacy universal precautions

PURPOSE

To mitigate the health risks that result from low health literacy and difficulty identifying patients with insufficient health literacy, health organizations recommend physicians apply health literacy universal precaution communication skills when communicating with all patients. Our aim was to assess how health literacy universal precautions are delivered in routine GP consultations, and explore whether there were differences in how GPs used universal precaution approaches according to areas of deprivation in England.

METHODS

This was a mixed methods study using video and interview data. Ten physicians conducted 217 consultations in primary care settings with adults over 50 years old between July 2017 and March 2018 in England. Eighty consultations (N = 80) met the inclusion criteria of new or persisting problems. Descriptive quantitative analysis of video-recorded consultations using an observation tool and qualitative thematic analysis of transcribed scripts. Meta-themes explored differences in physicians' communication by areas of deprivation.

RESULTS

Descriptive statistics showed physicians used a caring tone of voice and attitude (n = 73, 91.3%) and displayed comfortable body language (n = 69, 86.3%) but infrequently demonstrated profession-specific health literacy universal precaution communication skills, such as the teach-back technique (n = 3, 3.8%). Inferences about physicians' communication from qualitative analysis converged with the quantitative findings. Differences in physicians' communication varied according to areas of deprivation.

CONCLUSIONS

Physicians need health literacy universal precautions communication skills to improve population health.

Health literacy, information provision and satisfaction in advanced cancer consultations: two observational studies using level of education as a proxy

OBJECTIVES

Patients with low health literacy (LHL) might feel less informed and satisfied with provided information than patients with high health literacy (HHL). In the setting of advanced cancer, we explored whether LHL patients, compared with HHL patients are: (1) often less informed, and (2) less satisfied with clinicians' communication (a) in general and (b) following information provision specifically.

METHODS

Data from two observational studies using recorded consultations were combined. Clinicians' provided information and patients' health literacy level-defined by educational levels-and satisfaction were measured. Χ2 tests and regression (moderation) analyses assessed the relation between health literacy and information provision, and between information provision and satisfaction, meanwhile exploring moderating influences of health literacy.

RESULTS

Of 61 included patients, 25 (41%) had LHL. LHL and HHL patients were equally seldom informed about the disease's incurability (36% vs 42%, p=0.66). LHL patients were more often informed about the option of not pursuing anticancer therapy than HHL patients (28% vs 8%, p=0.04). LHL patients were more satisfied with clinicians' communication than HHL patients (M=9.3 vs M=8.5, p=0.03), especially when the option of no anticancer treatment was discussed (p=0.04). Discussing the disease's incurability did not influence satisfaction levels (p=0.58) for LHL and HHL patients.

CONCLUSIONS

LHL patients were not less informed, yet more satisfied than HHL patients. Both groups were equally seldom informed about the disease's incurability. No anticancer therapy was mostly discussed with LHL patients who were more satisfied following this information. Clinicians should be encouraged to inform all patients about the disease status and (non)treatment options, while not overlooking empathic support.