Breaking Bad News to Family Members in a Pandemic

Description

Resident education on breaking bad news and conducting end of life conversations has been shown to improve comfort levels with having these conversations. Interventions with OB/GYN residents specifically have used a combination of didactics, resident role-playing and ultimately interaction with standardized patients with feedback from palliative care specialists. These interventions can be costly and also are not practical during the pandemic training environment where resident has transitioned to a virtual curriculum. While the didactics portions of this previously proven curriculum can be done virtually, the standardized patient interactions are challenging to replicate. Additionally, one of the key changes to patient care that has emerged during the pandemic is restrictive hospital and clinic visitor policies. Care providers must now have the ability to have difficult conversations and break bad news to family members over the phone rather than in person. Additionally, there has been an increasing reliance on telehealth visits. There are no currently studied training interventions in obstetrics and gynecology that address these skills.

Conditions

Resident Education, Patient Communication, Breaking Bad News to Patients Remotely, Telemedicine

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

Resident education on breaking bad news and conducting end of life conversations has been shown to improve comfort levels with having these conversations. Interventions with OB/GYN residents specifically have used a combination of didactics, resident role-playing and ultimately interaction with standardized patients with feedback from palliative care specialists. These interventions can be costly and also are not practical during the pandemic training environment where resident has transitioned to a virtual curriculum. While the didactics portions of this previously proven curriculum can be done virtually, the standardized patient interactions are challenging to replicate. Additionally, one of the key changes to patient care that has emerged during the pandemic is restrictive hospital and clinic visitor policies. Care providers must now have the ability to have difficult conversations and break bad news to family members over the phone rather than in person. Additionally, there has been an increasing reliance on telehealth visits. There are no currently studied training interventions in obstetrics and gynecology that address these skills.

Breaking Bad News to Family Members in a Pandemic

Breaking Bad News to Family Members in a Pandemic

Condition
Resident Education, Patient Communication, Breaking Bad News to Patients Remotely, Telemedicine
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Charlottesville

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, 22908

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

  • * residents in University of Virginia's residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • * able to provide informed consent
  • * under age 18
  • * inability to give informed consent

Ages Eligible for Study

18 Years to

Sexes Eligible for Study

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Collaborators and Investigators

University of Virginia,

Study Record Dates

2026-01-01