Banca de DEFESA: ANNA THARYNE DE ALMEIDA NASCIMENTO

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : ANNA THARYNE DE ALMEIDA NASCIMENTO
DATE: 28/03/2024
TIME: 10:00
LOCAL: Plataforma Google Meet
TITLE:

Challenges and facilitators of communicating bad news in medical practice and potential contributions of psychology

KEY WORDS:

Breaking Bad News. Hospital Service. Doctors. Psychologist.

PAGES: 79
BIG AREA: Ciências Humanas
AREA: Psicologia
SUMMARY:

Communicative skills are essential for proper interaction between physicians, users, family members, and other members of the multidisciplinary team. In this context, delivering bad news poses specific challenges as it tends to generate anxiety, fears, and reflections on the finitude and meaning of life. This descriptive study aimed to investigate the processes of delivering bad news in medical practice within the hospital setting, according to the perceptions and experiences of physicians from different specialties. To this end, 30 physicians practicing in public and private hospitals in the state of Rio de Janeiro participated, responding to a self-administered questionnaire either online or in person. The data obtained were treated using descriptive statistical analysis. It was found that 56.6% of physicians practiced in the Emergency Department, and the most commonly communicated bad news by the participants were adult deaths (70%), followed by diagnoses of serious or feared diseases and unfavorable medical test results, both at 66.6%. Most respondents stated that they did not discuss or plan the process of delivering bad news within their work teams (76.6%) and did not follow protocols for this purpose (53.3%). The main difficulties reported as hindering this type of communication were limited time availability (60%) and aspects related to patients and family members, especially lack of prior information (50%) and negative emotional reactions (40%). The news considered most challenging were informing about the death of children or adolescents (66.6%) and diagnosing a serious or feared illness (63.3%). Nineteen physicians (63.3%) claimed to feel reasonably prepared for delivering difficult news, but 14 participants (46.6%) said that providing such news emotionally affected them. Their main difficulties in performing this task were discussing end-of-life issues (50%) and dealing with their own feelings of helplessness (46.6%). Strategies evaluated as facilitating this communication process were being empathetic and supportive (83.3%) and receiving prior training (73.3%). Most physicians reported having frequent (43.3%) or limited (33.3%) support from psychologists in the context of delivering feared news, with 86.6% believing that the collaboration of these professionals should occur after the announcement of the information, offering support. Other responses indicated the benefit of joint collaboration with psychologists (73.3%) or having them emotionally prepare the involved individuals beforehand (56.3%). The study highlighted the importance of understanding physicians' difficulties in delivering bad news to support professional training courses in the field, aiming to mitigate the negative impacts of unwanted information that are nevertheless part of hospital routine.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Presidente - 2077610 - LILIAN MARIA BORGES
Interno - 1868924 - WANDERSON FERNANDES DE SOUZA
Externa à Instituição - FERNANDA MARTINS PEREIRA HILDEBRANDT - UERJ