Family meetings are often more daunting than seeing a patient alone, but are an essential feature of good holistic care.
Here is a step wise approach with suggested prompts for conversations:
Preparation
Make sure the whole team knows the clinical history and purpose of the meeting.
Agree who is going to lead the conversation and who will take notes.
Welcome
Introduce everyone and explain the reason for the meeting.
Ask everyone in the room what they would like to cover and any specific concerns they have.
Clinical update
Start by asking the family what they understand about the patient's condition.
The clinician (doctor, nurse or therapist) can update from their perspective. Use lay language as much as possible.
Keep pausing to check:
- That everyone understands
- That there is the ability to ask questions
- That information isn't too overwhelming
Ensure everybody in the meeting has a voice. e.g. 'We haven't heard from you Joan...'
Conversation tips
Acknowledge disress in the room e.g 'I can see you are really worried about ...'.
Recognise the effort and care that relatives have brought up to this point.
If the patient is not in the meeting do ask about their perspective and what is important to them.
Agree a plan and follow up
Recap on agreed actions and when the next coversation will happen.
Confirm which family member should be contacted in the event of deterioration.
Confirm with the family how they can contact the team if they have questions.
Record actions in your electronic patient record