Listening with an Open Heart: Exploring Forgotten Communication Tools

In our professional lives, many of us tend to communicate primarily in the verbal sphere and in one direction – we use words to convey information to patients and their loved ones.  Even though sharing information and providing education verbally are indeed very important, we propose that there are two additional tools that are critical to providing optimal care, especially at the end of life: presence and listening.  This workshop will explore these two forms of communication and provide the participant with tools for building them into every day practice.