Conversations Matter: Responding to High Emotion (for clinical staff)

Conversations Matter provides a program of education and research to improve healthcare communication and supportive care across regional cancer centres in Victoria.

We warmly invite health professionals (clinical staff) working in regional cancer centres and linked health services in Victoria to attend this virtual workshop.

This is an interactive workshop and you will leave your camera on and need a working microphone for the session.

About the workshop

Identifying and addressing strong emotions such as anger, anxiety and distress are important skills for health professionals.

Acknowledging emotions can build trust and strengthen relationships with patients, families and colleagues.

In this interactive workshop, you will explore evidence-based skills and practical strategies when responding to strong emotions. International healthcare communication experts, Meg Chiswell and Professor Peter Martin, will guide you through the fundamentals of healthcare communication whilst exploring the topics of empathy, listening, and reflection as critical skills when supporting patients and carers.

Workshop Learning Objectives

On completion of this workshop you will:

• Develop a tool kit of skills, frameworks and phrases to respond effectively to strong emotions from patients, families and colleagues
• Understand the impact of empathic communication when there are strong emotions
• Develop skills to observe and deconstruct clinical interactions by analysing patient-clinician conversations.

Facilitators

Meg Chiswell and Professor Peter Martin are international experts in healthcare communication from Deakin’s Centre for Organisational Change in Person-Centred Healthcare (OCPH).

Meg and Peter will be joined by special guest Associate Professor Connie Timmermann, from the Centre for Research in Patient Communication, University of Southern Denmark.

Who should attend?

All health professionals working in regional cancer centres who would like to develop their efficacy and confidence to engage with patients, families and colleagues when there are high emotions.

Course Details

We will be using Zoom to deliver this virtual workshop.

The Victorian Department of Health has partnered with the Centre for Organisational Change in Person-Centred Healthcare (OCPH) at Deakin University to deliver Conversations Matter Skilled Conversations Building Excellence in Cancer Care to make this training opportunity possible.

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