ABSTRACT
Communication has come to be recognized as an essential component of delivering palliative care. In 2017 the World Health Organization updated its definition of palliative care as a philosophy of care designed to improve quality of life of those living with a life-threatening illness by preventing or relieving physical, psychological, social and spiritual suffering.
To accomplish these goals clinicians need exemplary communication skills to help their patients and families to openly express their fears and concerns, assess needs effectively and elicit honest and appropriate plans of care going forward. In addition the ability to communicate well is known to effect good patient care in general, reduce patient and family member distress, and has even proven to improve patient satisfaction.
This chapter attempts to look into the current academic literature on the status of communication in the field of palliative care. To improve the reader's understanding and awareness of the underpinnings of interpersonal communications, a popular communication theory will be used, as an example, to illustrate the complexities inherent in the art of communications. Working in palliative and end-of-life care involves the use of both skill and knowledge to effectively communicate during a series of critical events and decision points regardless of where it is introduced in the illness trajectory.
