- Title
- The experiences of health professionals, patients, and families with truth disclosure when breaking bad news in palliative care : a qualitative meta-synthesis
- Creator
- Miller, Elizabeth; Porter, Joanne; Barbagallo, Michael
- Date
- 2022
- Type
- Text; Journal article; Review
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/189261
- Identifier
- vital:17416
- Identifier
-
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951521001243
- Identifier
- ISSN:1478-9515 (ISSN)
- Abstract
- Objective Disclosing the truth when breaking bad news continues to be difficult for health professionals, yet it is essential for patients when making informed decisions about their treatment and end-of-life care. This literature review aimed to explore and examine how health professionals, patients, and families experience truth disclosure during the delivery of bad news in the inpatient/outpatient palliative care setting. Methods A systemized search for peer-reviewed, published papers between 2013 and 2020 was undertaken in September 2020 using the CINAHL, Medline, and PsycInfo databases. The keywords and MeSH terms (truth disclosure) AND (palliative care or end-of-life care or terminal care or dying) were used. The search was repeated using (bad news) AND (palliative care or end-of-life care or terminal care or dying) terms. A meta-synthesis was undertaken to synthesize the findings from the eight papers. Results Eight papers were included in the meta-synthesis and were represented by five Western countries. Following the synthesis process, two concepts were identified: Enablers in breaking bad news and Truth avoidance/disclosure. Several elements formed the concept of Enablers for breaking bad news, such as the therapeutic relationship, reading cues, acknowledgment, language/delivery, time/place, and qualities. A conceptual model was developed to illustrate the findings of the synthesis. Significance of results The conceptual model demonstrates a unique way to look at communication dynamics around truth disclosure and avoidance when breaking bad news. Informed decision-making requires an understanding of the whole truth, and therefore truth disclosure is an essential part of breaking bad news. Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Relation
- Palliative and Supportive Care Vol. 20, no. 3 (2022), p. 433-444
- Rights
- All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence
- Rights
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2021
- Subject
- 4203 Health services and systems; Autonomy; Bad news; Communication; Palliative; Truth disclosure
- Reviewed
- Funder
- The first author is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend and RTP Fee-Offset Scholarship through Federation University Australia.
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