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Communication with the cancer patient’s family

Bożena Winch

Affiliacja i adres do korespondencji
CURR. GYNECOL. ONCOL. 2014, 12 (2), p. 155–171
DOI: 10.15557/CGO.2014.0014
Streszczenie

Most physicians’ working time is filled communicating with their patients – talking, listening, responding to their needs. The communication is aimed at identifying the patient’s medical, social and psychological circumstances. Understanding all these aspects allows to perceive the patient as a person. Communication is the exchange of information, but also everything that occurs between people communicating at a given moment, including the mutual impressions, the mutual sense of being heard and understood, being on a “similar wavelength,” or emotional distance. We communicate to explain things to one another, to share information, to make a shared decision or arrangement, or to negotiate things. When we think about the messages we convey and the way we convey them, we think about the information the message includes, its sense, the emotions it may evoke, its resonance in the patient’s individual circumstances. On the side of the “sender” i.e. the doctor, the quality of the communication depends on their knowledge of both oncology and psychology facts, the skill of forming a message, the ability to keep the right balance between distance and involvement, and adjusting feedback information. On the side of the “receiver,” i.e. the patient and their family, the communication is affected by the common myths and presumptions surrounding the disease, the knowledge of medical facts, communication skills, message decoding process – the interpretation, evaluation, response and the attitude of the patient towards the disease and its treatment, the emotional inclination of the patient and their family. From the very beginning of the diagnostic process, the patients and their relatives seek information on the disease and available treatment, support resources for the patient, emotional help and support for the family.

Słowa kluczowe
communicative functions, verbal and nonverbal communication, feedback information, sharing difficult information