Identifying Challenges to Communicating with Patients about Their Imminent Death.
(2014) In Journal of Clinical Ethics 25(4). p.296-306- Abstract
- The research literature suggests that physicians' attitudes regarding disclosing a diagnosis of cancer have changed, from nondisclosure to full disclosure. Physicians' attitudes towards disclosing a patient's prognosis are likewise said to have changed, although not to the same degree. The aim of this study was to identify inherent challenges in communicating information about imminent death. It included one set of interviews with patients and another set with doctors, and subsequent discussions of ways to overcome obstacles to patients' understanding their situation. Patients were diagnosed with leukemia, myeloma, or lung cancer; the doctors were hematologists and lung oncologists. The two sets of interviews were analyzed separately using... (More)
- The research literature suggests that physicians' attitudes regarding disclosing a diagnosis of cancer have changed, from nondisclosure to full disclosure. Physicians' attitudes towards disclosing a patient's prognosis are likewise said to have changed, although not to the same degree. The aim of this study was to identify inherent challenges in communicating information about imminent death. It included one set of interviews with patients and another set with doctors, and subsequent discussions of ways to overcome obstacles to patients' understanding their situation. Patients were diagnosed with leukemia, myeloma, or lung cancer; the doctors were hematologists and lung oncologists. The two sets of interviews were analyzed separately using a content analysis model developed by Graneheim and Lundman. For each set of interviews, eight content areas were defined as belonging to an area of interest and scrutinized for the information they included regarding communicating prognoses to patients. The main finding was a discrepancy between patients' desire to be fully informed regarding their prognosis and physicians' reluctance to offer a prognosis until a patient had overt signs of approaching death. We conclude that existing guidelines for disclosure of bad news should be modified to encourage disclosure and discussion of uncertain prognostic information, unless a patient is clearly opposed to receiving such information or otherwise not a suitable partner for dialogue. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4908049
- author
- Hoff, Lena LU and Hermerén, Göran LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2014
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Journal of Clinical Ethics
- volume
- 25
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 296 - 306
- publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:25517566
- scopus:84922535618
- ISSN
- 1046-7890
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 08ef3583-d4ad-4f56-8e99-ef9b3de99aea (old id 4908049)
- alternative location
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25517566?dopt=Abstract
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 09:31:58
- date last changed
- 2025-03-02 14:20:55
@article{08ef3583-d4ad-4f56-8e99-ef9b3de99aea,
abstract = {{The research literature suggests that physicians' attitudes regarding disclosing a diagnosis of cancer have changed, from nondisclosure to full disclosure. Physicians' attitudes towards disclosing a patient's prognosis are likewise said to have changed, although not to the same degree. The aim of this study was to identify inherent challenges in communicating information about imminent death. It included one set of interviews with patients and another set with doctors, and subsequent discussions of ways to overcome obstacles to patients' understanding their situation. Patients were diagnosed with leukemia, myeloma, or lung cancer; the doctors were hematologists and lung oncologists. The two sets of interviews were analyzed separately using a content analysis model developed by Graneheim and Lundman. For each set of interviews, eight content areas were defined as belonging to an area of interest and scrutinized for the information they included regarding communicating prognoses to patients. The main finding was a discrepancy between patients' desire to be fully informed regarding their prognosis and physicians' reluctance to offer a prognosis until a patient had overt signs of approaching death. We conclude that existing guidelines for disclosure of bad news should be modified to encourage disclosure and discussion of uncertain prognostic information, unless a patient is clearly opposed to receiving such information or otherwise not a suitable partner for dialogue.}},
author = {{Hoff, Lena and Hermerén, Göran}},
issn = {{1046-7890}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{296--306}},
publisher = {{University of Chicago Press}},
series = {{Journal of Clinical Ethics}},
title = {{Identifying Challenges to Communicating with Patients about Their Imminent Death.}},
url = {{http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25517566?dopt=Abstract}},
volume = {{25}},
year = {{2014}},
}