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Breaking Bad News and Truth Disclosure in Australia

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New Challenges in Communication with Cancer Patients

Abstract

Effective communication is a core component of quality cancer care, yet is challenging for patients and doctors alike. Many doctors find that “breaking bad news” consultations are particularly difficult and stressful. This chapter addresses how truth-telling within bad news consultations is approached in Australia. The cultural norm is for open disclosure and truth-telling, yet there are many situations in which physicians still struggle to break bad news, with little support or training. Unique features of the Australian environment, and Australian government policy, clinical practice guidelines, and training opportunities for breaking bad news, are reviewed. Evidence on current practice in Australia is presented. Cultural issues, which are of great importance in a multi-cultural society such as Australia, are ­discussed. Finally, Australian-developed tools to facilitate bad news discussions are described, and recommendations for the future are made.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Medicine (CeMPED), School of Psychology and Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Phyllis Butow, Martin H. N. Tattersall & Josephine Clayton

  2. Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Research Group, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Phyllis Butow

  3. HammondCare Palliative and Supportive Care Service, Greenwich Hospital, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Josephine Clayton

  4. Department of Medical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick Sydney, NSW, 2031, Australia

    David Goldstein

Authors
  1. Phyllis Butow
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  2. Martin H. N. Tattersall
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  3. Josephine Clayton
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  4. David Goldstein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Phyllis Butow .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Medicine, New York University Medical School, First Avenue 530, New York, 10016, USA

    Antonella Surbone

  2. Institute of Oncology, Zaloška 2, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia

    Matjaž Zwitter

  3. Institute of Oncology, Zaloška 2, Ljubljana, 1000, Ljubljana-Center, Slovenia

    Mirjana Rajer

  4. 38th Street 2838, Astoria, 11103, New York, USA

    Richard Stiefel

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Butow, P., Tattersall, M.H.N., Clayton, J., Goldstein, D. (2013). Breaking Bad News and Truth Disclosure in Australia. In: Surbone, A., Zwitter, M., Rajer, M., Stiefel, R. (eds) New Challenges in Communication with Cancer Patients. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3369-9_31

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3369-9_31

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3368-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3369-9

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