Webinar - Our Most Vital Procedure: Best Practices for High-Stakes Communication

Communication is the one procedure that all pediatric hematology/oncology (PHO) clinicians perform daily, yet clinicians receive little training and mostly learn via trial and error. Pediatric hematology/oncology today includes many therapeutic options that did not exist 10 years ago. New cellular therapies, genetic discoveries, and virtual visits have changed the landscape for many conditions, yet patients, families and clinicians must still contend with uncertainty, offer recommendations, and make decisions. How ready are we? Some conversations feel particularly high-stakes, and these are often the conversations that patients and clinicians find most difficult. Optimal communication promotes care that matches patients' values and wishes. For clinicians, it reduces moral distress, builds confidence and credibility, and saves time. We seek to provide concrete guidance for clinicians who may have a role in discussing prognosis, goals of care, decision-making, and advance care planning. The newest literature will be reviewed including conversation guides and other communication tools. We provide special focus on supporting and diversifying hope (over and above cure) and involving children in the decision-making process.

Learning Objectives:

• Demonstrate the steps of a prognosis and goals of care discussion.
• Utilize conversation guides and frameworks to help families identify and share hopes, worries, and expectations when a child is seriously ill.
• Model age-appropriate methods for involving children, teens, and young adults in the decision-making process.