Communication skills

Question 1

What do patients want?

Answer 1

• Good interpersonal skills (eg communication and empathy)
• easy access to care, including convenient appointments with a familiar clinician
• involvement in decision making

Question 2

What are the benefits of good communication

Answer 2

• better for patients (improved satisfaction, better emotional regulation)
• Better for you (less stress, greater job satisfaction, less likely to be sued)
• Other benefits (better pain control, shorter admissions, decreased tumour growth)

Question 3

What are the steps in Calgary Cambridge?

Answer 3

• Initiating the session
• Gathering information
• Physical examination
• Explanation and planning
• closing the session

throughout:
• building the relationship
• providing structure

Question 4

What is the ‘traditional’ approach to history taking?

Answer 4

• presenting complaint
• history of presenting complaint
• past medical history
• family history
• social history
• medicine/drug history
• allergies

Question 5

What is the pain assessment model ‘SOCRATES’ and why is it not the best to use?

Answer 5

• Site (where is pain)
• Onset (activities when pain start)
• Character (what pain feel like)
• Radiates (does pain go anywhere else?)
• Associated symptoms (eg nausea)
• Time/duration (how long pain for)
• Exacerbating/relieving factors (anything make pain better/worse?)
• severity (obtain initial pain score)

• close qs, doesnt consider patients experience and views

Question 6

How can you listen to patient when they are telling you the answer?

Answer 6

1) Shut up
2) listen
3) know something
4) care

Question 7

What is health literacy

Answer 7

the personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make decisions about health

Question 8

What are some explanation techniques?

Answer 8

• Chunk and check
• teach back and show me
• written info (leadlets/ words/ diagrams)

Question 9

Why should we consider the patients perspective?

Answer 9

all of us have different:
- attitudes to risk
- health goals
- personal circumstances

Question 10

What are the decision making styles?

Answer 10

• Paternalism
• Information provision
• shared

Question 11

What is paternalism decision making style?

Answer 11

• telling person what to do
• not giving them options

Question 12

What is information provision decision making style?

Answer 12

• giving the person options and they then decide
• no help deciding from the pharmacist

Question 13

What is shared decision making style?

Answer 13

• Sharing info two way dialogue
• pharmacist explains the options (patient informed)
• patient shares concerns and expectations

Question 14

How should you end the consultation- with examples

Answer 14

1) safety netting- providing any warning signs or red flags to look out for (eg if you notice XYZ please see doc asap)

2) summarising- teach back (eg weve covered quite alot today can you demonstrate how or summarise how etc)

3) continuing the relationship- building the relationship (eg if u have any qs pls feel free to reach out)