Why is communication skills training important?

"I like the way my doctor treated me and my husband. He wasn't just talking about my cancer or research or being very clinical. He took time to get to know me and never stood over me."

Effective communication between health professionals and people with cancer improves understanding and satisfaction with treatment and can assist people in adjusting to a diagnosis of cancer. Communication skills training workshops have been shown to be an effective tool in improving clinicians' ability to identify patient concerns, respond to their emotional cues, alleviate clinician stress and reduce burnout.

An outline of the benefits of communication skills training is provided below. For a more comprehensive overview please click on the link below:
An introduction to communication skills training: providing information to people with cancer (pdf 93kb).

Benefits to patients

Effective communication has been shown to improve patient satisfaction with care and improves understanding of their problems, investigations and treatment options. In addition, patients may be more likely to adhere to treatment regimes and patient distress, and vulnerability to anxiety and depression may be lessened.

Benefits to health professionals

Communication skills training has been shown to be an effective tool in improving clinicians' ability to identify patient problems more accurately and respond to their emotional cues. It has also been shown that communication skills training can improve the wellbeing of health professionals through alleviating stress and reducing burnout.

Policy and communication skills training

The importance of communication skills training is becoming increasingly recognised in government frameworks. A number of reports such as Optimising Cancer Care in Australia1 and the National Service Improvement Framework for Cancer2 have identified the need for cancer care providers to improve their communication skills, including specialists, GPs and the whole care team. In June 2005 the Senate report on the inquiry into services and treatment options for persons with cancer3 provided 33 recommendations to optimise choice and improve outcomes for cancer patients as they travel their cancer journey. This included:

'The Committee recommends that the curriculum for medical professionals at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels include enhanced communication skills training and that professional Colleges also undertake a more active role in the provision of such training for their members. This training could be based on the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre's communication skills training workshops that have been developed to improve the awareness and capacity of health professionals to communicate effectively with women with cancer.'

Communication skills at the undergraduate level

The importance of effective communication skills is introduced to undergraduate students in medical schools in Australia and internationally and is part of The Cancer Council Australia's Ideal Oncology Curriculum 4. However it has been acknowledged that it is difficult to prepare the medical student for the clinical challenges that can occur in oncology practice. Few oncology training programs offer sufficient training in communication skills or support faculty development in this area.

Communication skills training and professional colleges

Communication is being increasingly recognised as a core clinical skill in medicine and in cancer care in particular. Medical and nursing Professional Colleges in Australia acknowledge the importance of achieving high level communication skills and are increasingly providing communication skills training opportunities. These include compulsory training for first-year trainees and ongoing professional development opportunities for members of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians, acknowledgment of communication skills training by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in their Strategic Plan for Education 2003-2005 and subsequent module development and implementation for members on a voluntary basis. Advanced communication skills form an integral part of the NBCC's* Specialist Breast Nurse Core Competencies.

Whilst Professional Colleges demonstrate support of communication skills training for their members, only a few Colleges formally include these skills as an essential component of their training curriculum.

* In February 2008, National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC) changed its name to National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC).

References

1. Clinical Oncology Society of Australia, The Cancer Council Australia and the National Cancer Control Initiative, 2002. Optimising Cancer Care in Australia. National Cancer Control Initiative, Melbourne, VIC.
2. National Health Priority Council, 2004. National Service Improvement Framework for Cancer. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, ACT.
3. Senate Community Affairs Reference Committee, 2005. The cancer journey: informing choice. Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, ACT.
4. Oncology Education Committee, 1999. Ideal Oncology Curriculum for Medical Schools. The Cancer Council Australia, Sydney, NSW.

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