Background This article reports on the concept of “communicating prognostic uncertainty”
which emerged from a mixed methods survey asking family members to rank their …

Background: Many reports suggest clinicians are often inadequately prepared to``diagnose
dying''or discuss the likelihood of imminent death with patients and families. Objective: To …

Background: When patients are likely to die in the coming hours or days, families often want
prognostic information. Prognostic uncertainty and a lack of end-of-life communication …

Background Inequities in the provision of palliative care for people with cardiac disease
have been well documented in the literature. Despite experiencing significant palliative care …

Background: Few studies have examined physician–family caregiver communication at the
end of life, despite the important role families have in end-of-life care decisions. We …

Increasing evidence demonstrates the benefits of early end-of-life care discussions with
patients with life-threatening illness and their families. However, these conversations often …

Context Talking about death is an important issue for terminally-ill cancer patients and their
families. Little is known about how often and which bereaved families regret not having …

Background: A primary barrier to physician disclosure of terminal prognosis is concern that
patients will lose hope. Inpatient palliative care (IPC) teams are especially posed to mediate …

Background Seriously ill patients and their physicians often avoid discussing prognosis,
which may compromise optimal end-of-life (EOL) care planning. The relation between …

Objectives Explanation about the impending death of imminently dying patients with cancer
is important for their families. However, little is known about how clinicians explain …