Communication Pearls

Janet Abrahm, MD, FACP, FAAHPM, FASCO

Recovery from Burnout or Compassion Fatigue

January 2025

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Newsletters
End of Life and Bereavement → End of Life Conversations → Newsletters
End of Life and Bereavement → Compassion Fatigue and Burnout → Newsletters
End of Life and Bereavement → Grieving → Newsletters
Janet Abrahm, MD, FACP, FAAHPM, FASCO

Formulation: The Key to Difficult Conversations

May 2026

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Newsletters

Goals of Care: The Power of Purpose

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Videos

Part 2: Eliciting goals of care when there are no further cancer directed treatments to pursue

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Videos

Part 1: Sharing your concern that there are no further cancer directed treatments to pursue

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Videos
Abrahm J

Communication Challenges: When Time is Shorter Than They Hoped

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Presentations
End of Life and Bereavement → End of Life Conversations → Presentations
Ulin L, Knight HP, Lawton AJ, et al.

Debriefing challenging clinical encounters: the pause framework #474.

J Palliat Med 2024;27:421-422

Comments from Dr. Abrahm:
P= prepare; A =Analyze; U = Understand; S = Sentiment; E = Educate

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Articles
Lawton AJ, Daubman B-R, Natarajan S, et al.

Making every minute matter: practical strategies to enhance high-quality, time-efficient hospice and palliative care visits.

J Palliat Med 2024;27:1578-1582.

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Articles
Iyer R, Park D, Kim J, et al.

Effect of chair placement on physicians’ behavior and patients’ satisfaction: randomized deception trial.

BMJ2023;383:e076309.

Comments from Dr. Abrahm:
“… 1.8 chairs need to be placed for a [hospitalist] physician to sit.” With a chair present, 38 of 60 physicians sat versus 5 of 65 when there was no chair. When physicians sat, they spent no more time in the room, but patient satisfaction was greater (p=0.02). The absolute difference was small (88.0% (SD 8.9%) vs 84.1% (SD 9.1%).

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Articles
Childers JW, Back AL, Tulsky JA, Arnold RM

REMAP: A Framework for Goals of Care Conversations

J Oncol Pract. 2017;13:e844-e850

View this resource in context: Communications with Patients and Families → Communication Pearls → Articles
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oncology supportive care

About Dr. Abrahm

Janet Abrahm, MD is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is among the founders of Palliative Care in the United States and the author of four comprehensive books on supportive and palliative care for patients with cancer. Dr. Abrahm is a former practicing oncologist who created the Palliative Care Service at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute over 20 years’ ago. She is an award-winning clinician and educator and continues to practice palliative care at Dana Farber.

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oncology supportive care

Dr. Abrahm's Book

Dr. Abrahm is the author of four comprehensive editions 
on supportive and palliative care for patients with cancer, the first published in 2000 and the latest in 2022.

Her extensive work offers oncologists and other oncology and palliative care clinicians a place to turn to find the most up-to-date evidence-based practices, resources, and practical advice on how to care for patients across the full range of issues they will experience during their illness.

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