Effective Cancer Communication

Cancer Council’s Effective Cancer Communication program teaches best practice communication skills to health professionals, non-clinical staff and volunteers working with people affected by cancer and other serious illness.

Our workshops explore communication skills, empathy, active listening and the impact of emotions in a safe and supportive environment. Through active learning strategies participants learn to recognise emotional reactions to cancer and apply evidence-based communication skills to respond effectively and empathetically.

Participants are provided with tools and language to build trusting relationships that contribute to better health outcomes.

Tailored workshops

Our Effective Cancer Communication workshops are most suitable for health services, cancer organisations, NGOs and corporates. Cancer Council’s facilitators can work with organisations to customise workshops to meet the needs of your staff, including the format and location.

Workshop Prices

To find out more about customising a workshop to meet your team’s needs or to request a quote, please complete the form below or contact us at ecc@cancervic.org.au

Public workshops

We also run public workshops for individuals throughout the year. You can find information about upcoming workshops by clicking the button below. If there are no suitable workshop dates, please join our waiting list to be advised of new dates.

UPCOMING PUBLIC WORKSHOPS

Which course is right for you?

Cancer Communication Essentials

The Cancer Communications Essentials workshop is for people in non-client facing roles who are interested in learning more about supporting and communicating effectively with people affected by cancer. You may come into contact with people with cancer but it is NOT part of your daily job. You won’t have extensive knowledge of the context and issues that affect people with cancer but you are interested in learning how to support people more effectively.

You may work in a cancer organisation or the cancer field in an administrative or support role or even be a researcher.

During this workshop you will:

• Discuss the importance of effective communication, including active listening and empathy
• Explore how to use appropriate cancer language in a conversation
• Develop and practise your own phrases in response to emotional statements
• Identify and discuss communication strategies for referring on, progressing conversations after emotional disclosures and ending conversations
• Explore the impact of cancer on a person, their family, friends, and the wider community

Listen and Refer

The Listen and Refer workshop is for people who work in the health sector and interact with those affected by cancer as a core part of your daily job but not in a clinical role. You will be familiar with the types of conversations that arise with people with cancer and are seeking ways to manage challenging conversations. You may work in a health service or cancer organisation in an engagement, media or fundraising role, where effective interaction with people affected by cancer is fundamental.

During this workshop you will provide examples of difficult cancer discussions you have had in your job and will have the opportunity to practice these situations with simulated patients (professional actors). Participants learn how to listen effectively, apply empathy and to refer people to relevant support services.

In the Listen and Refer workshop, participants will:

• Explore effective communication strategies and the importance of empathy 
• Explore the impact of cancer on a person, their family, friends, and the wider community.
• Practice conversations with a simulated patient to apply techniques
• Learn evidence-based techniques to refer people to support services 
• Build confidence in using effective communication to support people affected by cancer

Responding to Emotions in Cancer

In this small group workshop for health professionals, you will explore emotional reactions to cancer and learn evidence-based approaches to respond with empathy and to structure difficult conversations. Participants then practice conversations with simulated patients to strengthen their capacity to manage emotion, show empathy and be able to apply a person-centred approach.

This workshop is suitable for all health professionals working with people affected by cancer, including medical practitioners, nursing and allied health professionals.

During the Responding to Emotions in Cancer workshop, health professionals will:

• Explore emotional reactions to cancer
• Learn evidence-based techniques to confidently navigate emotional conversations
• Practice conversations with simulated patients to apply techniques 
• Feel better prepared to show empathy, manage emotion, and deliver person-centred care.

Further information

To find out more about any of these workshops or to discuss customising them to meet your team’s needs, complete the form below or contact us at ecc@cancervic.org.au   

  Click here to complete the enquiry form