19 March 2015

An electronic version of a paper, on improving communication with palliative care cancer patients using the SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop, has been published by Jane Griffiths, Charlotte Wlison, Gail Ewing, Michael Connolly and Gunn Grande in the European Journal of Oncology Nursing.

The paper highlights how attending the workshop, improved the district nurses' knowledge about communication behaviours helpful to patients; and that this was sustained two months after training.   The district nurses also reported an increase in their confidence in communication skills, which was sustained post-workshop.  In addition, the findings demonstrate that it can be difficult to control the environment when visitng a patient at home.