On-site Supportive Communication Training in Doctor-patient Communication

Overview

The goal of this randomized, controlled clinical trial is to test a new concept for communication skills training (on-site supportive communication training (on-site SCT) in cancer care. The study aims to determine the impact of on-site SCT on patients' rating of oncologists' communication abilities. Oncologists participating in the study will be randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. In the intervention group each doctor will have a total of three intervention days at intervals of 3-4 weeks. On an intervention day, a psychologist will sit in and observe doctor-patient consultations. After the first consultations, 30 minutes are allocated for feedback to the doctor by the psychologist. After the last consultation of the day, 60 minutes are allocated for thorough feedback and establishment of learning goals to focus on until the next intervention day. Doctor's in the control group will conduct communication as usual. Researchers will compare the control and intervention groups to see if patients' rating of doctors' interpersonal and communication skills increase when the doctors have participated in on-site SCT. The 15-item Communication Assessment Tool (CAT) will be used. It will also be investigated whether on-site SCT increases the doctors' rating of themselves in relation to communication efficacy and job satisfaction and decrease their experience of burnout.

Oncologists carry a heavy responsibility when delivering information to cancer patients and helping them navigate through decisions about life-altering treatments, survivorship, and end-of-life care. Comprehensive person-centered psychosocial cancer care should be adapted to the individual patient, which is obviously a challenging task (Dilworth, et al. 2014). Individualized and empathic communication, on the other hand, is of substantial importance to patient satisfaction, adherence to treatment, empowerment, and the ability to navigate in the disease trajectory (Gattellari, et al. 2001; Stewart 1995; Vogel, et al. 2009). The quality of the communication in medical care has been shown to influence health outcomes, as it increases the risk of unnecessary treatment and is linked to insufficient pain relief and higher anxiety levels (Thorne, et al. 2005). Therefore, considerable effort has been dedicated to interventions that may improve the communication skills of healthcare professionals involved in cancer care (Moore, et al. 2018). The primary purpose has been to improve the quality of the doctor-patient-communication including the doctors' interpersonal skills. Previous papers have suggested direct feedback on observed situations as an ideal method for improving communication skills (Anderson 2012; Burgess, et al. 2020), but to the best of our knowledge, no randomized clinical trials have used patient feedback during on-site training. Studies on communication skills training courses with recorded consultations/role-play have shown significant effect on key communication skills (Fallowfield, et al. 2002) and increased self-efficacy (Ammentorp, et al. 2007). Two studies have demonstrated long-term maintenance of acquired skills (Finset, et al. 2003; Gulbrandsen, et al. 2013). Until now, no effect on burnout has been demonstrated (Bragard, et al. 2010a; Bragard, et al. 2010b). Clinical supervision and training aims to develop clinical practice and provide a protected space to allow an educational and reflective process to occur. Although there is still no empirical definition of the term supervision (Milne 2007), in 2004 Bernard and Goodyear defined it as "an intervention provided by a more senior member of a profession to a more junior member or members of that same profession"(Bernard 2004). On this premise, psychologists cannot formally supervise doctors and other terms must be used. In this project we therefore use the term "on-site supportive communication training" (on-site SCT) when referring to the intervention given by the psychologists. Psychologists have a long tradition of working with communication, creating a reflective learning space, making observations and providing feedback. It is therefore highly relevant to use dedicated psychologists to investigate the effect of on-site SCT on the doctors' communication and on their experienced level of self-efficacy, satisfaction and burn-out.