The Family Conference

Abstract

The family conference chapter explores, in detail, one of the primary interventions performed by palliative care providers. A successful meeting can actually be viewed as time saving as it offers an opportunity for many issues to be reviewed and for multiple important decisions to be made in a relatively short period of time. By describing the conference in terms of a surgical procedure, during which we prepare, do, and close, this chapter offers specific guidance in a way most likely to resonate with a surgeon. It reviews the steps necessary to prepare for a family conference and describes how such steps may aid the family and the treatment team in managing uncertainty. It introduces the ask-tell-ask model of communication and discusses how this model can help to facilitate shared decision-making.

Founding the Surgical Palliative Care Society

“…After significant effort, collaboration, and time, along with the management expertise of Marjie Malia and Jill Willhite of lp-etc, the SPCS 13 was incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization in July 2021. 14 Two articles, one in General Surgery News and another in the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons have highlighted our founding. 15,16 Our inaugural meeting was held on October 18, 2022, in San Diego, California, in conjunction with the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress (Figures 1 and 2).…”