Conducting a family meeting
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780198736134.003.0018
The strategies employed in running family meetings include collaborative agenda setting, appraisal of family needs, exploration of the impact of the illness and the family’s resultant coping, the building of consensus about the goals of care, and planning for the future. Special communication skills that guide this process are the use of circular questioning techniques and integrative summaries. Beyond the education of all families, a subgroup remains at risk and requires ongoing family support. Families with young children, offspring living with disability or mental illness, those isolated or disenfranchised, and those with high conflict warrant psychosocial referral for ongoing family therapy. Role play work with simulated family members helps build co-facilitation skills, cultural sensitivity to respond to requests to collude with relatives, and confidence in dealing with difficult families.
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