Give the Team the Tools They Need: Creating Effective Communication Skills Workshops

For the experienced and inexperienced hospice team member, communication is a skill that is set aside while mastering caseloads and changes in policies - believing communication will come easily. However, often the actual conversations do not match the ideal self-expectation. Many hospice and palliative care programs follow CAPC curriculum or the COMFORT Framework, recognizing communication is a skill that requires practice. Normally, this curriculum is presented primarily in orientation and centered on discussing end-of-life decisions. However, team members face crucial conversations daily beyond end-of-life decisions; such as suicide, relationship crises, oxygen safety, and abuse. This session will explain how to utilize familiar end-of-life communication tools/protocols to create effective workshops. These workshops will provide a foundation of familiarity and repetitive practice to improve communication skills for the interdisciplinary team when challenging situations arise.