5 Examples Of Effective Communication With Oncology Patients
- Brainz Magazine
- Feb 20, 2024
- 5 min read
Written by: Mara Mussoni, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Thanks to my direct experience with both patients and professionals, unfortunately, I have realized that many of the latter still struggle to find the right way to communicate with their patients during the helping relationship. However, communication is never an element to be underestimated. It is always necessary to learn to communicate effectively because through the right words, questions, and stimuli, every professional can radically change the experience of illness in the individual and transform a treatment journey into a 360-degree healing journey.
As Professor Benedetti, a leading expert in neurophysiology and neuroscience, claims, it is often the words themselves that determine the outcome of therapy.
If you feel unable to truly connect with your patients and are wondering how to do so, in this article, you will find 5 examples of effective communication that you can implement immediately, allowing you to achieve extraordinary results. Let's see them together.
1. Validate pain and acknowledge the person's perceptions
Effective communication should always be based on a fundamental premise: the perception of reality is as important as the reality itself for those experiencing the illness. All emotions perceived by the person, including the most negative and dysfunctional ones, are physiological. Accepting them is part of the healing process: it is an evolutionary process from which one cannot escape if they want to transform the illness into an opportunity for growth.
Moreover, hoping to eliminate anxiety, frustration, or fear with a simple platitude or by encouraging 'positive thinking' is practically impossible, as well as harmful, as I also write about in the article "The Damages of Positive Thinking Theories in the Oncological Context."
To encourage the patient to take this step forward, it is necessary to understand that downplaying or avoiding thoughts of suffering, especially when they are intrusive, does not allow one to break out of a passive condition. Validating pain, and thus demonstrating to be attentive professionals who take into consideration all the emotions of the patients, on the contrary, helps people feel understood, listened to, and welcomed.
Useful phrases to achieve such results are:
I know you feel angry and frustrated. You have every right to.
It's normal to feel scared at this stage: by gradually expressing your emotions, you'll also be able to accept them.
What are you scared of? What is the thought that torments you the most? Let's talk about it together, I'm here to help you.
Read also: Give Permission to Feel Bad: When Accepting Illness Becomes a Need for the Patient.
2. Reflection on utility
Once you have shown that you care about their subjective reality by acknowledging their pain and learning to consider all the most negative emotions as functional to healing, it would be appropriate to invite the person to reflect on the usefulness of what they feel to understand the real consequences of the most negative thoughts on a pragmatic level.
Utility will focus their attention on the body, avoiding the risk of falling into the trap of justifications and mental elaborations. Some questions are perfect for this purpose:
You're right to feel sad or anxious, but is it useful to continue feeling that way?
How does it make you feel not being able to accept fear and move forward? Is it useful?
What benefits do you get from the negative thoughts invading your mind?
Asking exploratory questions to obtain information about the mood can help the professional understand what emotional blocks their patient is still unable to overcome and what could be the right lever to stimulate change.
3. Asking action-oriented questions
The professional's investigative work becomes more useful if accompanied by encouragement and a push to action. In this case too, communication plays a decisive role: by asking questions that presuppose action or a strong stance, it is possible to bring out the patient's will to change.
Empowering personal power and the ability to choose will also make it easier for them to adopt an increasingly collaborative and proactive attitude. Let's see some examples:
What have you done so far to feel better?
How have you chosen to seek help?
What could you do that you haven't done yet?
What do you think you need?
Who could help you?
Answering these questions will help determine what the first step to truly feeling well is, regardless of the illness.
4. A matter of will
Talking about what can and cannot be done is helpful, of course, but what matters more than anything else is the willingness to embark on a journey and face a path of growth and change.
Those living with oncological illness may have unconscious resistances to overcome and beliefs to completely question. An example of effective communication that stimulates the will to change could start with a simple question like: "Are you willing to get involved and find a way to feel better?"
Starting from the assumption that the path to healing exists, and focusing on concepts of will and disposition, will lead the person to reflect on what they themselves want to do to feel well, rather than on what others believe is best for them.
5. Learn about the patient's illness
Another fundamental step to take on a healing journey is understanding the dynamics of the illness. Through communication, the professional can leverage the person's ability to understand what is happening inside them, not just giving them a subordinate role in the therapeutic process: those living with illness are always and in every case the protagonist of the treatment journey.
In addition to explaining in a simple and straightforward manner what happens when one gets sick, you can recommend reading a book on the subject, such as Cancer Coaching: Take the Path to Your Healing, watching videos by industry specialists, or even better, an individual Cancer Coaching program.
Planting the seed
Regardless of what they choose to do to feel well, the primary goal of every professional should be to plant in their patients the seed of awareness. A seed that can sprout and bear fruit if the conditions are favorable, but that can die if the conditions do not allow it. Whether it sprouts or not, it is precisely that seed that makes the difference in the lives of others.
If you want to improve communication with your patients and are ready to get involved, enroll in the Cancer Coaching Master's program and become an effective helping relationship professional.
Contacts
Mara Mussoni, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Mara Mussoni, the first Cancer Coach in Italy and Europe has a specific mission: to improve the lives of people facing illness. Having personally experienced cancer twice, she has developed a specific and practical method to activate people's resources, enabling them not to be passive victims of the disease but to become active participants in their journey towards healing. She helps individuals directly and indirectly affected by illness and she trains hundreds of care relationship professionals worldwide, equipping them with a specific method to utilize effective communication, approaches, and transformative strategies, making a difference in the lives of those they assist.
