Comunicação de notícias difíceis: percepções dos estudantes do curso de terapia ocupacional de uma universidade federal

Abstract

In the context of healthcare, communication skills are considered a fundamental aspect to ensure quality in care procedures and services. Although there are studies proposing strategies and protocols aimed at qualifying the process of communicating difficult news, evidence seen in literature indicates that there are inadequacies in the formation of this skill set in healthcare courses. This study aims to understand the process of communicating difficult news from the perspective of final year undergraduate Occupational Therapy students. This is a cross-sectional, exploratory study, with a qualitative approach, in which the participants were UFSCar’s Occupational Therapy students enrolled in the last year of the undergraduate course. Data collection was conducted by interviewing 10 undergraduates and reviewed through the use of thematic analysis. The interviewed students stated that the lack of focus on the subject of communicating difficult news left them unprepared at the time of graduation, a matter associated with the non-recognition of this content in subjects that make up the curriculum, or that the subject is offered in too punctual situations during the course. Participants indicated feeling uncomfortable and unprepared for potentially dealing with the need of communicating bad news in the future, as professionals. Although they claim lack of knowledge about any protocols for communicating bad/difficult news, they claim that as a very important strategy in such dialogues, are some aspects which are in line with the recommendations that support good communication practices. In conclusion, faults were identified in the formative process/curriculum of the healthcare industry professionals with regards to communicating difficult news, requiring greater investment in the development of such skills, as this directly relates to the quality of healthcare and assistance.