ABSTRACT
Every moment that professionals spend with a person who is dying or their carers is spent in communicating with them. Communication is about dialogue, to which each party brings assumptions, expectations and behaviour styles which influence both their contribution to and their interpretation of the dialogue and therefore its outcome. The first part of this chapter considers these issues, and the values and theoretical framework that underpin the skills that the professional brings. The second part discusses particular communication problems that often come up in this area of care. Communication with children when someone they love is dying is covered in Chapter 16.
