Development of an online training program for healthcare providers to enhance their communication skills when discussing sensitive topics with patients and their loved ones. The focus was on early care planning, guiding professionals in navigating complex, emotionally charged conversations about future healthcare decisions.
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Through a doctoral study, UZ Leuven identified a clear need for better support for healthcare professionals in conducting conversations about early care planning. This is a sensitive topic, where there is no absolute right or wrong—each individual has their own perspective. While standard communication training programs exist, they often fail to fully address the complexity and emotional weight of these discussions.
Additionally, the target audience was broad and time-constrained, ranging from nurses and doctors to psychologists. Although the need for improved communication was evident, the best approach was still unclear. The challenge was not only to find an effective learning solution but also to ensure that it was practical, accessible, and applicable across different roles in healthcare.
To bridge this gap, UZ Leuven collaborated with us to co-create a training program that goes beyond traditional communication training. The process began with inclusive brainstorming workshops, bringing together a diverse group of healthcare professionals. This approach allowed us to embrace the initial chaos of unlimited ideas and perspectives, gradually identifying key themes and refining them into a structured framework.
Through this iterative process, we extracted the core components of effective communication in early care planning, leading to seven focus areas:
This solution was grounded in both scientific research in healthcare and learning theory, ensuring a balance between evidence-based insights and practical applicability.
The training was designed to be engaging, reflective, and relevant to daily practice. The key elements included:
The training was first piloted with healthcare professionals at UZ Leuven, allowing for evaluation and refinement based on real-world feedback. This ensured that the program met the practical needs of healthcare providers.
After this test phase, the training was adapted and prepared for scaling up, ensuring a long-term impact on early care planning conversations in healthcare settings.
This project, funded by the Stichting tegen kanker, represents a close collaboration between research and practice, equipping healthcare professionals with the necessary tools for meaningful and compassionate communication in the most sensitive conversations of their careers.
