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Commentary on: Curtis JR Back AL Ford DW . Effect of communication skills training for residents and nurse practitioners on quality of communication with patients with serious illness: a randomised trial . JAMA 2013 ; 310 : 2271 - 81 .
Context
Significant energy and resources have been devoted to the development of end-of-life (EOL) communication skills training programmes for healthcare providers.
Development of these programmes is supported by evidence that patients who communicate with their providers about EOL care receive less aggressive care, early hospice enrollment and experience better quality of life at EOL. 1 However, while palliative care communication skills training programmes improve providers' communication skills, 2 preliminary studies indicate that training does not affect patient-reported outcomes. 3 This randomised trial examined the relationship between provider participation in a palliative care communication skills training programme, and patient-reported, family-reported and healthcare provider-reported outcomes.
Methods
Internal medicine residents, subspecialty fellows, and nurse practitioners were randomly assigned to a simulation-based, communication skills intervention (n=232) or usual education (n=240). The intervention consisted of eight 4 h sessions that included didactics, skills practice (using simulated patient encounters) and reflective discussions. The primary outcome was the quality of communication (QOC); secondary outcomes included the...