Exploring communication challenges in dementia care: Insights from home healthcare nurses.

Objectives: Care for people living with dementia predominantly takes place at home and is often characterized by multiple hospitalizations throughout the lengthy disease trajectory. Care transitions from the hospital often involve home health care. The purpose of this study was to explore communication challenges experienced by home health nurses to inform communication training needs for home-based dementia care.

Improving communication skills in caregivers: an adaptation and pilot test of a brief training module for caregivers of people with cancer in Australia.

Purpose: Informal caregivers play a pivotal role in providing support to cancer survivors, yet have reported challenges with communicating with health providers to get all the information they need to provide optimal care. We aimed to adapt and pilot test a brief communication skills training program (COMFORT) to improve caregiver-provider communication in an Australian cancer setting.

Methods: Module adaptation was guided by the cultural adaptation model.

The COMFORT Model: Moving the Initiative Outside of the Academy.

Reflexive and prospective in nature, the creators of the COMFORT model describe experiences of moving this research outside of the academy. The COMFORT model represents the seven basic principles of healthcare provider communication: - Connect, - Options, - Making Meaning, - Family Caregivers, - Openings, - Relating, - Team. The COMFORT initiative began as a call for change in healthcare communication education.

A conceptual model of the nurse's role as primary palliative care provider in goals of care communication.

Objective: Nurses have opportunities to engage in goals of care conversations that can promote palliative care communication. The purpose of this study was to describe nurses' experiences in goals of care communication as summarized in the literature and to present a conceptual model of communication pathways for nurses.

Methods: An integrative review of the literature (2016-2022) addressing nurses' experiences in goals of care communication was conducted using PubMed, CINAHL, and PsychInfo databases.

Communication Openings: A Novel Approach for Serious Illness Communication in Homecare.

Serious illness communication in homecare about hospice and/or palliative care transitions is lacking due to clinical culture. The purpose of the current study was to understand communication openings using COMFORT™, a palliative care communication model used to train nurses. Qualitative, focus group interviews with 31 homecare nurses were conducted.

Improving Dementia Caregiver Activation With a Brief Communication Module.

Palliative care often plays a pivotal role in supporting informal caregivers of persons living with dementia who experience a lack of continuity in care. Dementia caregiver activation, the caregiver's willingness and ability to navigate care needs, requires communication skills for developing relationships with healthcare providers. Communication activation is important because caregivers facilitate physician and patient information exchange.

Palliative Care Communication Among Home Health Interprofessional Staff: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Effectiveness.

Skilled home health care (HH) is the largest and fastest growing long-term care setting in the United States. Patients in HH are served by an interprofessional team, and may have little direct contact with physicians, when discussing their progress, prognosis, and goals of care. Such conversations are part of primary palliative care communication.

Exploring Differences in Caregiver Communication in Serious Illness.

Demographic factors, such as disease context and family relationships, are communication mediators and moderators; however, little is known about how understanding these factors can improve caregiver communication with providers. Recognition of communication differences among caregivers may aid the development of approaches to improve serious illness communication. To explore whether caregiver communication differs by disease context (cancer vs.

Family Communication in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Applying the Family Caregiver Communication Typology to Parent Caregivers.

Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience greater stress and caregiver burden than parents of children with other disabilities. To cope with the stress of long-term caregiving, they rely on professionals for support and guidance. However, parents continue to report unmet communication and support needs.

Assessing Family Caregiver Communication in Chronic Illness: Validation of the FCCT-CI.

Chronic illness care demands attention to the unique needs of family caregivers who support care at home, yet few tools exist for family caregiver assessment in the social domain of practice. The Family Caregiver Communication Tool (FCCT) assesses caregiver communication as part of the family system and was originally developed for cancer caregivers. The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically-validate a version of the FCCT for Chronic Illness (FCCT-CI).

Investigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer clinicians' communication about sexual health.

Purpose: We assessed breast cancer clinicians' perspectives on how the COVID-19 pandemic and increased use of telehealth affected their clinical communication about sexual heath.

Methods: Breast cancer clinicians participating in a sexual health communication intervention study (N = 29; 76% female; 66% oncologists; 34% advanced practice clinicians) completed an online survey. Data analysis consisted of descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

Utilizing an Online Communication Module With Baccalaureate Nursing Students to Teach Leadership in Team Meetings.

This article presents an online communication module for teaching nurse leadership in team meetings. Baccalaureate students ( n = 64) participated in a one-hour online module as part of a leadership course. The module included a quantitative pre-post assessment and qualitative open-ended responses to video-based scenarios of team meetings.

COMFORT communication in the ICU: Pilot test of a nurse-led communication intervention for surrogates.

Aim: This study was designed to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a nurse-led communication intervention among surrogates in the intensive care unit (ICU) guided by the COMFORT (Connect; Options; Making meaning; Family caregivers; Openings; Relating; Team) communication model.

Background: As frontline communicators, nurses experience communication difficulties with surrogates who face complex informational and emotional barriers when making decisions for critically ill patients in the ICU. However, research on effective nurse communication focusing on both curative and end-of-life (EOL) care is lacking in the literature.

Collective caregivers: A novel examination of health literacy management approaches.

Objective: Health literacy and communication skills are necessary for family caregivers who often work in pairs, known as collective caregiving. Health literacy management is a relational process where communication between caregivers can be a barrier or pathway to improving or co-creating health literacy. The purpose of this study was to examine how collective caregivers manage health literacy.

Communication and Competencies Across Undergraduate BSN Programs and Curricula.

Background: An investigation was conducted to assess for and describe health communication instruction in entry-level baccalaureate (BSN) programs.

Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study examined entry-level baccalaureate degree nursing programs in the United States. A three-step process was used: (1) online survey of directors of BSN programs, (2) online survey of simulation directors, and (3) analysis of course titles and descriptions.

COVID 19-transformed nursing education and communication competency: Testing COMFORT educational resources.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought a disruption to nurse education for both nursing faculty and students as all non-clinical nurse education courses worldwide moved to distance or online learning. The sudden shift to online education meant the loss of traditional activities for students to learn communication skills creating a critical demand for open educational resources for students and nursing faculty. Tools to support nursing faculty development for teaching communication are nearly non-existent and pedagogical content knowledge is needed.

Mobile Technology-Based (mLearning) Intervention to Enhance Breast Cancer Clinicians' Communication About Sexual Health: A Pilot Trial.

Background: Most breast cancer clinicians lack training to counsel patients about sexual concerns. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effects of a mobile learning (mLearning) intervention (improving Sexual Health and Augmenting Relationships through Education [iSHARE]) aimed at enhancing breast cancer clinicians' knowledge of, beliefs about, and comfort with discussing patients' sexual health concerns.

Methods: Clinicians listened to a 2-part educational podcast series offering information on breast cancer-related sexual health concerns and effective communication on the topic, which consisted of interviews with expert guests.

Sharing COMFORT Communication Training With Healthcare Professionals in Nairobi, Kenya: A Pilot Webinar Series.

Background: Communication training for healthcare providers is evident in the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic, however training opportunities are not available in countries with limited resources.

Objectives: To investigate perceived comfort in communication about end-of-life and palliative care among healthcare providers in Nairobi, Kenya and to evaluate a pilot webinar-based communication training series.

Methods: Through a partnership with a research hospital in Nairobi, healthcare providers engaged an online survey to assess perceived comfort in communication and prior educational training in communication.

The Experiences of Family Members of Ventilated COVID-19 Patients in the Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Visitor restrictions caused challenges for family members when their loved ones had coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and were ventilated. Limited studies have reported on family members' experiences and support needs.

Aim: To explore the experiences and support needs of family members of ventilated COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).

Opportunities to improve COVID-19 provider communication resources: A systematic review.

Objective: Communication related to COVID-19 between provider and the patient/family is impacted by isolation requirements, time limitations, and lack of family/partner access. Our goal was to determine the content of provider communication resources and peer-reviewed articles on COVID-19 communication in order to identify opportunities for developing future COVID-19 communication curricula and support tools.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted using the UpToDate clinical decision support resource database, CINAHL, PubMed, PsycInfo, and Web of Science.

Family caregivers' perceived communication self-efficacy with physicians.

Objective: Family-centered health care requires successful communication between patient, family caregivers, and healthcare providers. Among all providers, physicians are most likely to interact with caregivers. Using the Family Caregiver Communication Typology, this study examined perceived communication self-efficacy with physicians among four types of caregivers: Manager, Partner, Carrier, and Lone.

Exploring Family Caregiver Communication Difficulties and Caregiver Quality of Life and Anxiety.

Background: When family caregivers are involved in patient care, both patients and caregivers experience better clinical outcomes. However, caregivers experience communication difficulties as they navigate a complex health care system and interact with health care providers. Research indicates that caregivers experience a communication burden that can result in topic avoidance and distress; however, little is known about how burden stemming from communication difficulties with health care providers relates to caregiving outcomes.

The COMFORT Communication Model: A Nursing Resource to Advance Health Literacy in Organizations.

The COMFORT Model has recently been revised based on feedback from bedside nurses working in palliative care and oncology and includes the following components: Connect, Options, Making Meaning, Family Caregiver, Openings, Relating, and Team. Based on clinical and nonclinical research in hospital, hospice, palliative care, and interdisciplinary education settings, the authors present the updated COMFORT Model. Originally introduced in 2012 to support the work of the nurse, the model is not a linear guide, an algorithm, a protocol, or a rubric for sequential implementation by nurses, but rather a set of communication principles that are practiced concurrently and reflectively during patient/family care.