Pearls from 1/19/21 Medicine LEADS

The Jan. 19, 2021 session of Duke Medicine LEADS featured a discussion led by Jonathan Fischer, MD, "The Art and Science of Effective Family Meetings."

Palliative Care experts, Kristen Lakis, MDiv, MSW, LCSWRev. Artie Hendricks, MDiv, ThM, BCC; Tara Coleman, PA-C; and Delani Mann-Johnson, MD, weighed in for the diagnostic reasoning and discussion.

Here are pearls and takeaways from the session:

  1. Family meetings are often a process, building on previous conversations​.
  2. ​Start every meeting with questions/listening; avoid information or recommendations​.
  3. ​Recognize emotional cues, even when they sound like cognitive questions, and respond with Empathy (NURSES acronym)
  4. ​Ask permission before moving on to the next part of the conversation, to make sure you are all still on the same page.​
  5. ​Avoid discussing treatments before exploring goals/values.​
  6. ​Later in the meeting, don’t be afraid to offer recommendations, especially if you can connect recommendations to goals/values​.

Watch the recorded session

Duke Medicine Learning, Education, and Discussion Series (LEADS) takes place each Tuesday at 12 p.m. Learn more and see schedule of upcoming sessions.

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