Training in communication of oncology clinicians: a position paper based on the third consensus meeting among European experts in 2018

Abstract

Background: Since there is sound evidence that communication skills training (CST) programs modify communication behavior of oncology clinicians, they have been widely implemented over the last decades. However, more recently, certain aspects of this training have been criticized. Methods: Based on this background, a call to relaunch a discussion about the future of CST led to the third European consensus meeting on communication in cancer care, organized by the Swiss Cancer League. During this meeting, which brought together European experts in the field of clinical communication and training of communication in the oncology setting, oncology clinicians, representatives of the European Society of Medical Oncology and a member of the European Oncology Nursing Society, the recommendations of the second European consensus meeting were updated and expanded. Results: The expanded recommendations recall the guiding principles of communication in cancer care, underline the important role of clinician's self-awareness, and of relational and contextual factors in clinical communication, and provide direction for the further development of communication training. Conclusion: This third European consensus meeting defines key elements for the development of a next generation of communication training for oncology clinicians.

Development and preliminary evaluation of a communication skills training programme for hospital physicians by a specialized palliative care service: the ‘Teach to Talk’ programme

“…As highlighted in a number of studies, physicianpatient communication can be effectively learned and improved through specific training programmes [2,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Nevertheless, the transferability of trainees' acquired competences to the clinical setting is difficult for range of reasons:…”

“…There is widespread agreement on the importance of communication skills training (CST) for healthcare professionals caring for cancer patients [ 1 , 2 ]. The literature indicates that honest and open communication with cancer patients can improve adherence to treatment programmes [ 3 , 4 ] and lead to benefits for physicians [ 4 – 6 ].…”

“…As highlighted in a number of studies, physician-patient communication can be effectively learned and improved through specific training programmes [ 2 , 9 – 19 ]. Nevertheless, the transferability of trainees’ acquired competences to the clinical setting is difficult for range of reasons: CST are usually intensive residential programmes held outside trainees’ workplaces and attended by participants from different work environments and setting CST are usually implemented by psychologists or experts from psychiatry and behavioural sciences who, de facto, are not directly involved in physician-patient communications experiential learning techniques usually employed within these training, such as role playing with peers or trained actors, are not real encounters with real patients, which included in only a minority of programmes.…”

Developing a digital training tool to support oncologists in the skill of information-provision: a user centred approach

“…For all of these reasons, the importance of high quality communication skills is generally well recognized in the oncology setting, as illustrated by published guidelines [11]. Despite room for improvement, communication skills trainings for oncology clinicians have been widely implemented in the last decades [67].…”

Moving toward the next generation of communication training in oncology: The relevance of findings from qualitative research

“…These critics and the most recent recommendations for communication training in oncology based on the third consensus meeting among European experts (Stiefel, Kiss, et al, 2018) call for new ideas, which may contribute to designing the next generation of training in clinical communication for oncology clinicians. The aim of this work was to search the literature on communication in cancer care for empirically grounded observations that might be useful for the future development of training approaches.…”