Handbook of Communication in Oncology and Palliative Care

Ilora Finlay is a Consultant in Palliative Medicine and chronic pain at the Velindre NHS Trust, Cardiff. She is also an honorary Professor and was Vice Dean of the School of Medicine 2000-2005. Professor Finlay currently chairs the Palliative Care Strategy Implementation Board for the Welsh Assembly Government. She has published over 126 papers and seven books and holds senior editorial positions for medical journals such as Lancet Oncology and the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. In 1996, Baroness Finlay was named Welsh Woman of the Year in recognition for her work in the field of palliative care. In 2001, she was appointed a people's peer in the first open contest for membership of the House of Lords. In establishing the Diploma/MSc in Palliative Medicine (Cardiff University), she has trained hundreds of general practitioners in communication skills through experiential residential programmes, developing teaching tools and assessment methods.

SECTION A: INTRODUCTION TO COMMUNICATION STUDIES IN CANCER AND PALLIATIVE MEDICINE ; 1. The history of communications skills knowledge and training ; 2. The art of teaching communication skills ; 3. Theoretical models of communication skill training ; 4. Shared treatment decision-making and the use of decision aids ; 5. The ethics of communication in cancer and palliative care ; 6. Gender, power and nonverbal communication ; 7. Medical student training in communication skills ; 8. Overview of interventions to enhance cancer patients' participation in medical consultations ; SECTION B: A CORE CURRICULUM FOR COMMUNICATION SKILLS TRAINING FOR ONCOLOGY AND PALLIATIVE CARE ; 9. Breaking bad news ; 10. Discussing prognosis and communicating risk ; 11. Communication training to achieve shared treatment decisions ; 12. Responding to difficult emotions ; 13. Denial and communication ; 14. Communicating with relatives/companions about cancer care ; 15. Conducting a family meeting ; 16. Communication about coping as a survivor ; 17. Dealing with cancer recurrence ; 18. Communication about transitioning patients to palliative care ; 19. End-of-life communication training ; SECTION C: A SPECIALTY CURRICULUM FOR ONCOLOGY ; 20. Enrolment in clinical trials ; 21. Working as a multidisciplinary team ; 22. Communicating genetic risk ; 23. Rehabilitative and salvage surgery ; 24. Discussing unproven therapies ; 25. The effect of internet use on the doctor-cancer patient relationship ; 26. Promoting treatment adherence ; 27. Communication strategies and skills for optimum pain control ; 28. Discussing adverse outcomes with patients ; 29. Clinical perspectives on shared decision-making ; 30. Audio-recording important consultations for patients and their familities - putting evidence into practice ; 31. Working with interpreters and achieving culturally competent communication ; 32. Challenges in communicating with ethnically diverse populations ; 33. Intercultural communication in palliative care ; 34. Communicating about infertility risks ; 35. Communicating about sexuality in cancer care ; SECTION D: COMMUNICATION ISSUES ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES ; 36. The challenges and rewards of communication skills training for oncology and palliative care nurses in the United Kingdom ; 37. Ambulatory nurses responding to depression ; 38. Social work support in crisis ; 39. Communication in radiology ; 40. Communication in surgical oncology ; 41. Communication in non-surgical oncology ; 42. Palliative medicine: communication to promote life near the end-of-life ; 43. Communication issues in pastoral care and chaplaincy ; 44. Communication in oncology pharmacy: the challenge of the treatment adherence ; 45. Psychosocial program development ; 46. Communication challenges with the elderly ; 47. Issues for cognitively impaired elderly patients ; 48. Communicating with children when a parent is dying ; 49. Creative arts in oncology ; SECTION E: EDUCATION AND TRAINING ; 50. Learner-centered communication ; 51. Facilitating skills practice in communication role play sessions: essential elements and training facilitators ; 52. The role of the actor in medical education ; 53. Training patients to reach their communication goals: a concordance perspective ; SECTION F: INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES IN COMMUNICATION TRAINING ; 54. The OncoTalk model ; 55. The Swiss model ; 56. The Australian model ; 57. The United Kingdom general practitioner and pallaitve care model ; 58. Communication skills training and research: the Brussels experience ; SECTION G: RESEARCH IN CANCER COMMUNICATION ; 59. Evaluating communication skills training courses ; 60. Qualitative approaches to clinician-patient communication ; 61. Doctor-patient communication interaction analysis systems ; 62. The Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS): applicability within the context of cancer and palliative care