Home>Health professionals>Teaching Communication in Healthcare

Teaching Communication in Healthcare

Conference and Education Program

Cancer Council Victoria, the European Association of Communication in Healthcare (EACH) and the Department of Health and Human Services partnered to deliver this inaugural conference with over 120 national and international delegates. This was the first time a conference of this kind has been held outside Europe and North America.

The event schedule included:

A two day Teaching Communication in Healthcare Conference (6‑7 December 2016 - sold out)
A two day intensive Education Program for healthcare communication educators (8‑9 December 2016 - sold out).

This exciting event provided a range of unique opportunities to:

Explore best practice strategies in communicating with patients.
Develop new skills to implement the communication recommendations outlined in the Optimal Care Pathways.
Bring together healthcare communication educators for face-to-face networking and planning future projects and activities.
Increase the capacity for leading healthcare communication educators to develop their communication skills teaching in order to contribute to workforce development throughout Australia.

Conference convenor, Meg Chiswell, Manager of Cancer Information and Support Service Education and Training, highlighted "this conference was a wonderful opportunity to gather like-minded people and increase the potential for change in healthcare communication".

The program included presentations from key EACH representatives, including President of EACH, Associate Professor Emeritus Evelyn van Weel Baumgarten, and Dr Jonathan Silverman, immediate Past President, as well as international and local experts. See the full conference program.

The event provided a valuable platform to drive forward an Australian network of healthcare communication educators with delegates committing to continued action by forming the Australian tEACH Network.

For further information regarding the event and to join the Australian tEACH network, please contact education@cancervic.org.au

Cancer Council Victoria has a long history of supporting effective clinician-patient communication through our communication skills program. Within the last year, this program has delivered 100 experiential communication skills programs to over 800 health professionals. This program also delivers education to non-clinicians, including hospital staff and volunteers who work in cancer information lounges and palliative care wards.

Our evidence-based experiential courses provide health professionals with the skills and learning opportunities to practise communication skills in a simulated environment using clinical scenarios. For further information contact vcccp@cancervic.org.au