health
No doctor wants to have this conversation with a patient. For everyone’s sake, we must
Holistic care for incurably ill people has to include discussions about death and dying – but getting there is hard
TL;DR
- Serious illness conversations are not happening often enough, leading to significant costs for patients and society.
- These conversations are often not appropriately documented, which is problematic for emergency medical professionals.
- Simply telling patients to have difficult conversations with their oncologist is ineffective.
- Reminding doctors to have these conversations is useful, and reminding both doctors and patients simultaneously is even better.
- Barriers for clinicians include lack of communication training, time constraints, and burnout.
- Systemic changes are needed to facilitate these consequential conversations.
- The author discusses a personal interaction with a patient that highlights the difficulty and importance of these talks.