ComOn-Coaching: The effect of a varied number of coaching sessions on transfer into clinical practice following communication skills training in oncology: Results of a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of the number of coaching sessions after communication skills training on the medical communicative performance of oncologists in clinical practice.Methods/DesignThe training, consisting of a workshop and one (control group) vs. four (intervention group) sessions of individual coaching, was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial. Eligible participants included physicians working in any setting where patients with oncological diseases were treated. Real medical consultations were video recorded at three time points: before the workshop (t0), after the workshop (t1) and after completion of coaching (t2). The 1.5-day workshop was based on role-playing in small groups; in the coaching sessions, the videos recorded at t1 were analyzed in detail by both the trainer and the physician. The coaching sessions were manualized and based on the physician’s learning goals. The primary hypothesis was that the intervention group would improve to a higher extent than the control group, as assessed by external raters using rating scales specially developed for this project. Physicians were stratified for sex and setting and randomized by an independent statistician. The group assignment was revealed for physicians and trainers at the end of the workshop, while the raters were blinded to group assignments and assessment points.ResultsA total of 72 physicians participated in one of 8 workshops and could be allocated to either the control or intervention group. The intervention group showed a statistically significant improvement (ES d = 0.41, p<.01) in the All items domain of the rating scales between t1 and t2 and showed a significant advantage compared with the CG (ES = .41, p = .04). The impact on diverse specified skills was heterogeneous; a larger sample is necessary for more detailed analysis.ConclusionsThe training achieved some observable and significant changes in the communicative behavior of oncologists in clinical practice. The four coaching sessions showed some significant advantages compared to the single coaching session. Considerable effort is necessary to achieve sustained changes in communication in clinical every-day practice. Thus, our coaching concept is a promising method for this purpose.

Efficacy of Communication Skills Training of Preclinical Medical Students via Health Literacy Teaching to High School Students: A Pilot Study

“…This approach was proved to be useful, especially during the in-field activity, as the instructor feedback enhanced the efficacy of the CST. 36,37 The end result was that the medical students could communicate better, as evidenced by the improved ComON Check scores.…”

From intention to action: A systematic literature review of provider behaviour change‐focused interventions in physical health and behavioural health settings

“…The target intervention population for 18 studies were doctors, and predominantly primary care providers/general practitioners. 26,28,34,35,37,39,46,47,49,50,55,56,[58][59][60][65][66][67] To be included and eligible to participate in an intervention, primary care providers often needed to treat a specific subset of patients in their practice. For example, Presseau et al focused on general practitioners who provided care to patients with type 2 diabetes across 44 general practices through a national cohort study.…”

“…Twenty eight studies implemented contextually relevant interventions, [26][27][28][29][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]45,48,[52][53][54][55]57,58,60,61,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69] and 16 studies did not implement contextually relevant interventions. [30][31][32][41][42][43][44]46,47,50,51,56,59,62,66 Interventions were not considered to be contextually tailored to specific providers when an intervention target population included a combination of providers.…”

“…31 An intervention led by Edvardsson et al targeted a combination of health service providers in antenatal care settings, such as dentists and doctors, and administered the same program (Salut Programme) to all types of providers. 38 program [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39]42,44,45,48,50,[52][53][54]57,58,60,61,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69] ;…”

Analysis of Final Year Veterinary Students’ Telephone Communication Skills at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital

“…Learning “best practices” in communication is a benefit to both patients and healthcare professionals [5,6,7,8], and in veterinary medicine it is also a benefit to the client [9,10,11]. The literature on communication in physician, nursing and pharmacy training is extensive [8,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27], but less research has been conducted on communication in veterinary student training. Despite this limitation, extrapolation from other medical professions has allowed progress in establishing best practices for face-to-face interviews between veterinarians and their clients [28,29,30,31,32].…”