Communication Skills

What we know

Clear communication is an essential ingredient of quality palliative care. Good end-of-life communication involves the ability to both give and receive information at a time where strong emotions and stress can affect even the most experienced clinician. For health professionals, having as much information as possible from the patient is vital to ensure any plans and decisions are inclusive and that staff are advocating appropriately for them. Ongoing refresher training can help palliative care staff to improve their skills in discussing end of life (EoL).

Go to Evidence Summary

What can I do?

To improve your communication skills, use the tips from

The VITALTalk Tips
Managing changes in communication from Dementia Australia

Seize or create opportunities to improve your communication skills either through your organisation, through a professional or a peak body or online.

If organising a case conference, use the fillable palliAGED Forms for Your Practice and the guide on using the palliAGED case conference forms.

palliAGED Tip sheets

Tips for Careworkers:
Talking within the Aged Care Team

Tips for Nurses:
Talking within the Aged Care Team

What can I learn?

Watch the video: Ten steps for what to say and do.

Go to palliAGED online learning for a list of courses by profession or by topic including Communication.

Read:

Warnecke E. The art of communication. Aust Fam Physician. 2014 Mar;43(3):156-8.
The importance of communication in palliative care
Datta-Barua, I and Joshua Hauser, J. Four Communication Skills from Psychiatry Useful in Palliative Care and How to Teach Them. AMA J Ethics. 2018;20(8):E717-723. doi: 10.1001/amajethics.2018.717
Wittenberg E, Ferrell BR, Goldsmith J, Smith T, Ragan SL, Glajchen M, et al. (Eds) Textbook of Palliative Care Communication: Oxford University Press; 2015. (subscription required)
The In Focus article series on the Aged Care Standards to find out how the standards can support and improve quality of palliative care provided in residential aged care.

Complete these online learning modules:

Communication skills training from Cancer Australia including topics Breaking bad news, Discussing the transition from curative to palliative care, and Eliciting and responding to emotional cues
from PCC4U to learn about:
from End-of-Life Essentials (subscription is free). Perhaps start with:
- Imminent Death - How to Respond
- Responding to Concerns
- Patient-Centred Communication and Shared Decision-Making
- Teams and Continuity for the Patient.
from TEL Talking End of Life to learn how to best talk about death, dying, loss, grief and mourning with people with an intellectual disability.

Use the Making Communication Even Better learning hub from NHS Scotland to improve your own communication skills and make your service more accessible for people with communication support needs. The section “CSNs and different ways to communicate” offers a learning module and a workbook.

Use the e-learning resource from the NHS (UK) communication skills from End of Life care For All (e-ELCA).

What can my organisation do?

When developing in-house training in communication skills prioritise face-to-face sessions that are skills-based (i.e. which include practicing skills, discussion, hands-on training with counselling and feedback on real interactions between the participating carers and people with dementia).

Identify and make available to staff appropriate education resources.

Encourage and support ongoing education and development of communication skills – professional and interprofessional such as

Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach (PEPA) offers placements, mentoring, learning modules, learning guides and workshops
Running a multidisciplinary care meeting from Cancer Australia
TeamSTEPPS 2.0 pocket guide (839kb pdf) from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality USA.

Page updated 07 July 2021