Care not cure: dialogues at the transition

Abstract

Physicians and patients find it hard to communicate when treatment fails to cure or control cancer. Communication barriers include fear of "giving up," losing the medical team, and discussing death. The quality of physician-patient communication affects important outcomes including patient distress, coping, and quality of life, and physician burnout. Communication skills that can be taught, learned, and maintained for physicians at all levels of training, and effective educational programs have been described. Research on communication skills training should focus on the best method of delivery, the "dose-response" effect, and how to measure success of training in complex health care environments.