Breaking bad news is a complex task that requires multiple communication skills from health professionals. Clinical practice demands to communicate all type of bad news, from a diagnosis of cancer to adverse effects of a treatment. On the other hand, since the beginning of the health reform in 2003, the need to improve the quality of services was proposed, among which the concern about the righ...

Breaking bad news to patients is one of the most difficult and demanding tasks that oncologists face—and one for which they are often poorly trained and emotionally ill equipped. The S-P-I-K-E-S protocol described in this article provides a simple, easily learned strategy for communicating bad news and suggests ways to assess the situation as it evolves and respond constructively to patients. S...

OBJECTIVES To obtain information regarding the involvement of pre-registration house officers (PRHOs) in the discussions on bad news, and the competency and difficulties they perceive in clinical practice. DESIGN Structured telephone interviews. PARTICIPANTS 104 PRHOs. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Information about frequency and quality of involvement of PRHOs in discussions on bad news with pat...

Arguably, information represents the most critical commodity in healthcare settings. Providers and recipients both require timely and accurate information to make the best decisions regarding the recipient’s care. Unfortunately, health outcomes are not always positive. Healthcare providers often find themselves in the position of having to share negative information with their recipients and th...

The announcement about the handicap of a child is communicated to parents by gynecologists or ultrasonographists, in the prenatal period. Often, these professionals are not prepared to communicate this news to the parents, and they have some limitations that lead them to act inappropriately. Therefore, the aims of this research were to identify and to describe the feelings of professionals faci...

SPIKES is an acronym for presenting distressing information in an organized manner to patients and families. The SPIKES protocol provides a step-wise framework for difficult discussions such as when cancer recurs or when palliative or hospice care is indicated. Each letter represents a phase in the six-step sequence. S stands for setting, P for perception, I for invitation or information, K for...

BACKGROUND The breaking and receipt of bad news is little referred to in the mental health literature, particularly from a service user perspective. AIMS This project aimed to gain understanding of service users' experiences of receiving good and bad news from mental health professionals. METHOD Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted in which mental health service users recounted key...

Shortly before his death in 1995, Kenneth B. Schwartz, a cancer patient at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), founded The Kenneth B. Schwartz Center at MGH. The Schwartz Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and advancing compassionate health care delivery that provides hope to the patient, support to caregivers, and encourages the healing process. The Center sponsors th...