Chapter 4: How to Build Relationships with Good Communication
Overview:
- Explains the importance of good communication
- Aids all explanations with graphs, tables and resource sheets
- Provides case examples to further emphasise points made
- Discussion of communication difficulties and why they occur for the health professional, patient and family
- Suggested solutions for overcoming communication challenges
Description:
This chapter explores the necessity of good communication between health professionals and patient and family. It identifies common problems and guidance through solving such problems. It offers case examples, graphs and tables to aid all suggestions and problems described.
Topics:
- The importance of good communication
- Does communication make a difference to patient care?
- Is communication mishandled?
- The communication network
- Filters operating within the communication network
- Why is communication difficult for the health professional?
- Overcoming challenges: helping health professionals to communicate
- Maintain and clean communication filters
- Communication skills and strategies
- Dealing with challenging situations
- Overcoming challenges: helping patients or family to communicate
- Help the patient or family to maintain and clean their communication filters
- Assisting communication with the health care team
- Decision aids
- Putting it all together
- Resources for health professionals and references
- Resource sheet 4.1 Communicating effectively with others
- Resource sheet 4.2 Coping with anger
Speakers / Authors:
Professor Phyllis Butow
Phyllis has worked for over 20 years in the area of psycho-oncology and has developed an international reputation in this and the area of health communication. She is currently professor and NHMRC principal research fellow in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. She directs the Medical Psychology Research Unit and chairs the Australian Psycho-oncology Co-operative Trials Group. She chairs the Communication Skills Advisory Group of the National Breast Cancer Centre and has taken a leading role in Australia in promoting and facilitating communication skills training for oncology health professionals. Much of her research concerns the impact of communication strategies on doctor and patient outcomes, and this has been translated into a number of communication skills modules for cancer health professionals. She has over 150 publications in peer reviewed journals, most of which relate to psychological issues in cancer.
Dr Jemma Gilchrist
Jemma is a senior clinical psychologist with clinical experience in psycho-oncology. Since 1999 she has worked in two separate tertiary oncology services providing psychosocial care to adults with a wide range of cancer diagnoses as well as their families and carers. Jemma has experience in educating other health professionals on the role of psychosocial support and interventions in the oncology setting. In addition she is an honorary associate of the University of Sydney and provides clinical supervision to clinical psychology interns at master’s level. She completed her doctorate in 1995 in the area of children’s eyewitness memory, and has published in the areas of interviewing children about stressful events, the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome and postnatal depression. She has a longstanding interest in the impact and treatment of anxiety in the medically unwell.
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