Description and outcomes of an interprofessional communication training program for adult oncology clinicians

Effective communication is essential for the delivery of quality cancer care; however, few clinicians receive formal communication training. There is a growing need for communication training tailored towards the interdisciplinary team's role in patient-centered care and addressing communication across all aspects of cancer care. The goals of this National Cancer Institute-funded training program were to (1) identify the eight domains of quality palliative care applicable across all stages of cancer, (2) demonstrate skills in key clinical areas of communication through lab sessions, and (3) develop goals for implementing communication skills training in practice through process improvement, staff education, and clinical care.

The Interprofessional Communication Curriculum (ICC) training program, a train-the-trainer course for US-based adult oncology clinicians, included a 3-day training course with 1-year follow-up for ongoing support and to assess impact. Measures included pre-course institutional assessment, participant goal implementation, course evaluations, and surveys to assess communication training efforts post-course.

Five training courses included 388 clinicians (nurses, social workers, and chaplains) in dyads from 38 US states. The project included 30% under-represented minority participants. The post-course results revealed participants trained an additional 9746 clinicians: 5872 nurses, 1276 social workers, 586 chaplains, 1128 physicians, and 884 others including students.

The ICC training course resulted in increased effectiveness in communication practice across domains of care. ICC is an effective train-the-trainer program for interdisciplinary communication training.