For healthcare professionals, breaking bad news is considered to be difficult and complex. Trial and error, as well as observing seniors, are popular approaches used by healthcare practitioners to improve their skills. These channels of practice are not optimal, and they can have negative consequences for the quality of bad news delivery and overall healthcare. Communication training and the inclusion of breaking bad news models in the curriculum are among the efforts made by the healthcare business to provide skills to healthcare personnel, yet these efforts are found to be insufficient or non-existent. A client-centred approach, which originates from a patient-centred approach, is seen to be effective in assisting healthcare professionals in tailoring their bad news delivery to the needs and preferences of the clients who are the recipients of the news. This study conducted a survey of 100 current practising practitioners to determine their preferences around the delivery of bad news. The data from the survey was analysed using descriptive synthesis analysis. The findings of the study were presented in two main categories: (i) Demographic details and health profiles, and (ii) Breaking bad news preferences. According to the findings, the respondents’ preferences for conveying bad news are similar to one breaking bad news model, the SPIKES model. This research is believed to add to the existing literature on practises of healthcare providers when it comes to delivering bad news.
Abdul Hafidz, M. I., & Zainudin, L. D. (2016). Breaking bad news: An essential skill for doctors. Medical Journal of Malaysia.
Al-Mohaimeed, A. A., & Sharaf, F. K. (2013). Breaking bad news issues: A survey among physicians. Oman Medical Journal. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2013.05
Almaiman, W., Alfattani, A., & Alshareef, T. A. (2021). Breaking bad news to children with chronic kidney disease: A questionnaire-based study and literature review. International Journal of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 8(2), 87–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpam.2020.03.002
Alrashdi, I. (2012). Evaluation of quality of healthcare: to what extent can we rely on patient expectations and preferences. Oman Med J, 27(6), 448–449.
Back, A., Arnold, R., Baile, W., Tulsky, J., & Fryer-Edwards, K. (2005). Approaching difficult communication tasks in oncology. CA Cancer J Clin, 55(3), 164–177.
Baile, W. F., Buckman, R., Lenzi, R., Glober, G., Beale, E. A., & Kudelka, A. P. (2000). SPIKES—A Six-Step Protocol for Delivering Bad News: Application to the Patient with Cancer. The Oncologist, 5(4), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.5-4-302
Bain, M. G., Lian, C. W., & Thon, C. C. (2014). Breaking bad news of cancer diagnosis-Perception of the cancer patients in a rural community in Malaysia. South Asian Journal of Cancer, 3(2), 116–121. https://doi.org/10.4103/2278-330X.130447
Buckman, R. A. (1992). How to Break Bad News: A Guide for Health Care Professionals. John Hopkins University Press.
Buckman, R. (1984). For Debate. British Medical Journal, 288(6430), 1597–1599. https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.288.6430.1597
Clayton, J. M., Hancock, K., Parker, S., Butow, P. N., Walder, S., Carrick, S., Currow, D., Ghersi, D., Glare, P., Hagerty, R., Olver, I. N., & Tattersall, M. H. N. (2008). Sustaining hope when communicating with terminally ill patients and their families: a systematic review. Psycho-Oncology, 17(7), 641–659. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.1288
Dale MacLaine, T., Lowe, N., & Dale, J. (2021). The use of simulation in medical student education on the topic of breaking bad news: A systematic review. Patient Education and Counseling, 104(11), 2670–2681. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.04.00
Elkin, E. B., Kim, S. H. M., Casper, E. S., Kissane, D. W., & Schrag, D. (2007). Desire for information and involvement in treatment decisions: Elderly cancer patients’ preferences and their physicians’ perceptions. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 25(33), 5275–5280. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2007.11.1922
Fallowfield, L., & Jenkins, V. (2004). Communicating sad, bad, and difficult news in medicine. In Lancet. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)15392-5
Girgis, A., & Sanson-Fisher, R. W. (1995). Breaking bad news: Consensus guidelines for medical practitioners. Journal of Clinical Oncology. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.1995.13.9.2449
Hashim, M. J. (2017). Patient-Centered Communication: Basic Skills. American Family Physician, 95(1), 29–34.
Igier, V., Munoz Sastre, M. T., Sorum, P. C., & Mullet, E. (2015). A Mapping of People’s Positions Regarding the Breaking of Bad News to Patients. Health Communication, 30(7), 694–701. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2014.898013
Kaur, P., Stoltzfus, J., & Yellapu, V. (2018). Descriptive statistics. International Journal of Academic Medicine, 4(1), 60–63. https://doi.org/10.4103/IJAM.IJAM
Lind, S. E., DelVecchio Good, M. J., Seidel, S., Csordas, T., & Good, B. J. (1989). Telling the diagnosis of cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology.
https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.1989.7.5.583
Mast, M. S., Kindlimann, A., & Langewitz, W. (2005). Recipients’ perspective on breaking bad news: How you put it really makes a difference. Patient Education and Counseling, 58(3 SPEC. ISS.), 244–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2005.05.005
Mazalan, M. I., Bogal, N., Arham, A. F., Abdullah, M. S., Hanapiyah, Z. M., Norizan, N. S., & Jamil, M. F. (2021). Students’ Perception towards E-Learning: A Descriptive Analysis at Uitm Kampus Bandaraya Melaka. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(9), 638–648.
Mengin, A. C., Kayser, C., Tuzin, N., Perruisseau-Carrier, J., Charpiot, A., Berna, F., Lilot, M., & Vidailhet, P. (2021). Mindfulness Improves Otolaryngology Residents’ Performance in a Simulated Bad-News Consultation: A Pilot Study. Journal of Surgical Education, 78(4), 1357–1365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2020.11.009
Miller, S. J., Hope, T., & Talbot, D. C. (1999). The Development of a Structured Rating Schedule (the BAS) to Assess Skills in Breaking bad news. British Journal of Cancer, 80(5/6), 792–800.
Sharif, M. N., & Ibrahim, N. A. (2021). Communicating Bad News in Health Context: A Review of Key Models Used by Healthcare Providers. In N. B. Haladin, W. F. W. L. Wan Fakhrudin, Y. Yi, E. Voon Suk Hsien, A. N. Zafrulshamirza, N. S. Abd Wahid, M. R. Othman, & F. Abu Bakar (Eds.), Virtual Language and Communication Postgraduate International Seminar 2021 Proceedings (pp. 28–34). Language Academy, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Narayanan, V., Bista, B., & Koshy, C. (2010). BREAKS protocol for breaking bad news. In Indian Journal of Palliative Care. https://doi.org/10.4103/0973-1075.68401
Newall, D. J., Gadd, E. M., & Priestman, T. J. (1987). Presentation of information to cancer patients: A comparison of two centres in the UK and USA. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 60(2), 127–131. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1987.tb02722.x
Oikonomidou, D., Anagnostopoulos, F., Dimitrakaki, C., Ploumpidis, D., Stylianidis, S., & Tountas, Y. (2017). Doctors’ Perceptions and Practices of Breaking Bad News: A Qualitative Study From Greece. Health Communication, 32(6), 657–666. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2016.1167991
Paramasivan, A., & Khoo, D. (2020). Standardized Patients Versus Peer Role Play—Exploring the Experience, Efficacy, and Cost-Effectiveness in Residency Training Module for Breaking Bad News. Journal of Surgical Education, 77(2), 479–484.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2019.10.009
Ptacek, J. T., & Eberhardt, T. L. (1996). Breaking bad news: A review of the literature. In Journal of the American Medical Association. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.276.6.496
Ptacek, J. T., & Ptacek, J. J. (2001). Patients’ perceptions of receiving bad news about cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 19(21), 4160–4164.
https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2001.19.21.4160
Rabow, M. W., & McPhee, S. J. (1999). Beyond breaking bad news: How to help patients who suffer. Western Journal of Medicine.
Royal College of Physicians. (1997). Improving communication between doctors and patients. Summary and recommendations of a report of a working party of The Royal College of Physicians. J R Coll Physicians Lond, 31(3), 258–259.
Randall, T. C., & Wearn, A. M. (2005). Receiving bad news: Patients with haematological cancer reflect upon their experience. Palliative Medicine, 19(8), 594–601. https://doi.org/10.1191/0269216305pm1080oa
Rosenbaum, M. E., Ferguson, K. J., & Lobas, J. G. (2004). Teaching Medical Students and Residents Skills for Delivering Bad News: A Review of Strategies. In Academic Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200402000-00002
Rustoen, T. (1995). Hope and quality of life, two central issues for cancer patients: a theoretical analysis. Cancer Nursing, 18(5), :355–361.
Sastre, M., Teresa, M., Sorum, P. C., & Mullet, E. (2011). Breaking Bad News: The Patient’s Viewpoint. Health Communication, 26(7), 649–655.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2011.561919
Seifart, C., Hofmann, M., Bär, T., Riera Knorrenschild, J., Seifart, U., & Rief, W. (2014). Breaking bad news-what patients want and what they get: Evaluating the SPIKES protocol in Germany. Annals of Oncology, 25(3), 707–711.
https://doi.org/10.1093/annonc/mdt582
Shaw, J., Brown, R., & Dunn, S. (2015). The impact of delivery style on doctors’ experience of stress during simulated bad news consultations. Patient Education and Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2015.08.023
Vaidya, V. U., Greenberg, L. W., Patel, K. M., Strauss, L. H., & Pollack, M. M. (1999). Teaching Physicians How to Break Bad News. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 153(4), 419–422. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpedi.153.4.419
Van Keer, R. L., Deschepper, R., Huyghens, L., & Bilsen, J. (2019). Challenges in delivering bad news in a multi-ethnic intensive care unit: An ethnographic study. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(12), 2199–2207. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2019.06.017.
In-Text Citation: (Sharif et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Sharif, N. M., Ibrahim, N. A., Don, Z. M., & Haladin, N. B. (2022). Breaking Bad News Preferences among Healthcare Professionals in Malaysian Government Hospitals. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences. 12(7), 716– 734.
Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
