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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN END-OF-LIFE CARE

End-of-life care is often fraught with difficulties many of them arising from difficulties in communication with the patient who is dying and their friends and family members. Although there have been considerable improvements in many aspects of end-of-life care and symptom management, the techniques of communication still lag behind other practical skills taught to medical students and physicians.

Based on research, teaching and publications over the last decade in conjunction with Dr Walter Baile - the strategies and techniques discussed and illustrated in this presentation are firmly based on research findings and have been found to be of practical value in clinical medicine. Among the techniques discussed, there will be particular attention paid to emotion-handling, and this will be illustrated with video scenarios from Baile and Buckmans CD-ROM set.

There will be a generous section set aside for question and comment and the participants will be encouraged to discuss clinical situations that have proved to be particularly difficult so that different options in dealing with them can be examined and tried out.