Communication Skills in Cancer and Palliative Care

[Instructor's Name]

Introduction1

Analysis of the Transcript3

Effectiveness of Good Communication7

Barriers to Good Doctor-Patient Communication Relationship8

Conclusion9

References10

Appendix13

Communication Skills in Cancer and Palliative Care

Introduction

In the past decades it has been always thought that the patient is incapacitated from biological point of view because the chronic disease puts him in a situation of suffering and disability, dependency and, ultimately, of childishness. The doctors in the past have advocated every now and then the proposition that helplessness of the patient not only affects the body but also the soul, the will and moral sense of a patient with critical illness. It is for this that is important not only for physical healing, but also for the involvement and effect of emotions, which most often occur at the time of medical consultation and depends on how the initial relationship between doctor and patient contributes for the support and confidence of future treatments. This point indicates towards the communication skills in cancer and palliative care, and it is the main topic on which an in-depth analysis will be done in this assignment.

The importance of "non-intellectual" physician characteristics has been relegated to measure intellectual ability (Cleries, Nadal &Branda , 2009, pp.2-5). With the strengthening of humanism and professionalism in medical education has stimulated interest in humanistic attributes of doctors in training. Consequently, the communication and interpersonal skills have become a vital element in the doctor's clinical performance and meet individual roles in achieving the objectives in the encounter with the patient's physician. However, despite that it has been considered important, there was the feeling that was learned naturally without formal need to teach it (Butow, Dowsett &Hagerty et al, 2002, pp.161-168).

In this context, communication skills refer to specific activities and behaviours applied to everyday medical task as is the development of a clinical history or explanation to the patient of their diagnosis, treatment plan and / or prognosis. Based on this, interpersonal skills are to the effect that communication has on the other person. Such is the case of the doctor who manages to "relieve the distress," establishes a relationship of trust or creates stress on the patient (Hietanen , Aro &Holli et al, 2000, pp.2096-2104). As interpersonal skills can be deduced and are inherent in the process of communication and relationship established. This facilitates understanding that interpersonal and communication skills are brought together in an essential skill when it comes to clinical performance. The doctor should know how to extract process and respond to information that is presented.

Figure: An Interactive Model of Communication

Source: Three Keys to Being an Effective Community Leader

Communication between doctor and patient is a central event in clinical practice. It is an ability that is learned and not merely a problem of personality. Effective communication improves satisfaction among patient in the level of understanding and improves adhesion in the therapeutic strategies that are implemented (Russell & Ward, 2011, pp. 101-199). This positively affects the quality of medical care. It not only emphasis on being nice or kind in order to ...