ABSTRACT
Many carers fi nd certain situations hard to cope with, and there is seldom any thing more challenging than trying to answer a ‘diffi cult’ question. Carers
lack of confi dence in talking about sensitive issues ➤ lack of training and/or support ➤ fear of showing their own emotion ➤ fear of unleashing emotion in the patient ➤ not having enough time to stop and talk ➤ protecting themselves – not wanting to face their own mortality ➤ fear of harming the patient or making things worse ➤ the need to face their own failure. ➤
Most of us will have heard people say things like ‘I don’t know what to say’, ‘I don’t want to upset her’ or ‘I don’t think he would cope if he knew.’ However, no one really knows how a person will react when they receive distressing news or the painful truth – even if we feel that we know that person really well.
