Search

Background: Palliative care requires a multidisciplinary care team. General practitioners often ask specialised palliative home care teams for support. Working with specialised nurses offers learning opportunities, also called workplace learning. This can be enhanced by the presence of a learning facilitator. Objectives: To describe the development and evaluation of a training programme for nurses in primary care. The programme aimed to prepare palliative home care team nurses to act as facilitators for general practitioners’ workplace learning. Design: A one-group post-test only design (quantitative) and semi-structured interviews (qualitative) were used. Methods: A multifaceted train-the-trainer programme was designed. Evaluation was done through assignments with individual feedback, summative assessment through videotaped encounters with simulation-physicians and individual interviews after a period of practice implementation. Results: A total of 35 nurses followed the programme. The overall satisfaction was high. Homework assignments interfered with the practice workload but showed to be fundamental in translating theory into practice. Median score on the summative assessment was 7 out of 14 with range 1–13. Interviews revealed some aspects of the training (e.g. incident analysis) to be too difficult for implementation or to be in conflict with personal preferences (focus on patient care instead of facilitating general practitioners’ learning). Conclusion: Training palliative home care team nurses as facilitator of general practitioners’ workplace learning is a feasible but complex intervention. Personal characteristics, interpersonal relationships and contextual variables have to be taken into account. Training expert palliative care nurses to facilitate general practitioners’ workplace learning requires careful and individualised mentoring.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate i) how the patient's participation in interaction occurs in interpreter-mediated consultations (IMCs) when the doctor provides information to the patient or tries to elicit information from them; ii) how the interpreter's presence in the consultation influences the patient's participation. METHOD: We analyzed 20 authentic video-recorded IMCs using the A.R.T. framework, an analytical tool for the study of participation in video recorded interpreter-mediated interactions. RESULTS: We coded 521 doctor utterances through which doctors either provided information or tried to elicit information from the patient. In 448 of them, the interpreter established a participation and engagement framework (PEF) with the patient while translating the doctor's utterances. In 48 cases the interpreter established a PEF with the doctor and in 25 cases the interpreter avoided establishing a PEF with either of the participants while translating the doctor's utterances. CONCLUSION: When the interpreter established a PEF with either of the participants, they used verbal and nonverbal means that created the conditions in interaction in order to enable and/or rectify the patient's participation. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Doctors and interpreters should become more aware of their own and each other's actions in interaction and their influence on the patient's participation in the consultation. ispartof: PATIENT EDUCATION AND COUNSELING vol:101 issue:10 pages:1804-1813 ispartof: location:Ireland status: published

Palliative sedation is a therapeutic option to control refractory symptoms in terminal palliative patients. This study aims at describing the occurrence and characteristics of suboptimal palliative sedations in primary care and at exploring the way general practitioners (GPs) experience suboptimal palliative sedation in their practice.We conducted a mixed methods study with a quantitative prospective survey in primary care and qualitative semi-structured interviews with GPs. The research team defined suboptimal palliative sedation as a time interval until deep sleep1.5 h and/ or 2 awakenings after the start of the unconsciousness. Descriptive statistics were calculated on the quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interview transcripts.We registered 63 palliative sedations in 1181 home deaths, 27 forms were completed. Eleven palliative sedations were suboptimal: eight due to the long time span until deep sleep; three due the number of unintended awakenings. GPs' interview analysis revealed two major themes: the shifting perception of failure and the burden of responsibility.Suboptimal palliative sedation occurs frequently in primary palliative care. Efficient communication towards family members is needed to prevent them from having unrealistic expectations and to prevent putting pressure on the GP to hasten the procedure. Sharing the burden of decision-making during the procedure with other health care professionals might diminish the heavy responsibility as perceived by GPs.

In 2015, at the International Conference on Communication in Healthcare in New Orleans, USA, we formed a symposium panel to discuss and debate how interdisciplinary research can inform interpreter-mediated medical consultation training. In all our work, a recurring theme is not just the strengths but also the shortcomings of the guidelines proposed in the textbooks and widely used in medical education. This paper is an account of our multidisciplinary reflections on a prominent issue of the lack of attention to interaction in communications, which shed light on the limitations of these guidelines and clinical communication models. We propose that an international network be established for all stakeholders to foster interprofessional and interdisciplinary collaboration for research and clinical interventions, and to inform training and policy making.

Objective To explore i) the ways in which empathic communication is expressed in interpreter-mediated consultations; ii) the interpreter's effect on the expression of empathic communication. Methods We coded 9 video-recorded interpreter-mediated simulated consultations by using the Empathic Communication Coding System (ECCS) which we used for each interaction during interpreter-mediated consultations. We compared patients' empathic opportunities and doctors' responses as expressed by the patients and doctors and as rendered by the interpreters. Results In 44 of the 70 empathic opportunities there was a match between the empathic opportunities as expressed by the patients and as rendered by the interpreters. In 26 of the 70 empathic opportunities, we identified 5 shift categories (reduced emotion, omitted emotion, emotion transformed into challenge, increased challenge/progress, twisted challenge) in the interpreter's rendition to the doctor. These were accompanied by changes in the level of empathy and in the content of the doctors' empathic responses. Conclusion The interpreters' renditions had an impact on the patients' empathic opportunities and on the doctors' empathic responses in one third of the coded interactions. Practice implications Curricula with a focus on intercultural communication and/or empathy should consider the complexity of interpreter-mediated interaction and the interpreter's impact on the co-construction of empathy.

Objective The diversity in our society makes patient-centered care more difficult. In this study, we aim to describe how family physicians respond to unpleasant emotions of ethnic minority patients. Methods One hundred ninety one consultations of family physicians with ethnic minority patients were video-recorded and analyzed using the Verona Codes for Provider Responses (VR-CoDES-P) to describe physicians’ responses to patients' expressed unpleasant emotions or cues (implicit) and concerns (explicit). Results 42.4% (n = 81) of all the consultations contained no cues or concerns, and thus no physician responses. Of the consultations containing at least one cue or concern, a mean of 3.45 cues and a mean of 1.82 concerns per consultation were found. Physicians are significantly (p ≤ 0.001) more frequently stimulating further disclosure of patients' cues and concerns (providing space: n = 339/494 or 68.6% versus reducing space: n = 155/494 or 31.4%). However, these explorations are more often about the factual, medical content of the cue than about the emotion itself (n = 110/494 or 22.3% versus n = 79/494 or 16%). The inter-physician variation in response to patients’ cues is larger than the variation in response to the patient’s concerns. Conclusions Although family physicians are quite often providing room for patients' emotions, there is much room for improvement when it comes to explicitly talking about emotional issues with patients. Practice implications Further research should focus on a more qualitative in-depth analysis of the complex interplay between culture and language of ethnic minority patients in primary care and, consequently, create awareness among these healthcare providers about the importance of ethnic minority patients’ emotions and how to respond accordingly.

Psychologische distress en vermoeidheid zijn bekende fenomenen bij oncologische patienten. Psychologische distress en vermoeidheid uiten zich in diverse vormen bij patienten, zoals slecht slapen of piekeren, maar ook depressie, angst of somatische klachten komen voor. Het is belangrijk dat de huisarts deze klachten proactief navraagt en samen met de patient kan ontrafelen en verder bespreken of behandelen. De omgeving van de patient kan eveneens belangrijke stress ervaren, ook hier is een proactieve rol voor de huisarts weggelegd. Daarnaast kan de huisarts zelf distress ervaren, als een patient met wie hij een langdurende relatie heeft opgebouwd een oncologisch probleem ontwikkelt. Deze stress kan zowel patient- als persoongerelateerd zijn. Het is dan ook belangrijk dat de huisarts bij zichzelf distress (h)erkent en hiervoor op tijd hulp zoekt.

Context Palliative sedation (PS) is a far-reaching palliative measure with a life-shortening potential. Guidelines provide only for a restricted use of PS and as a last resort. Objectives To explore PS practice in end-of-life (EoL) home care. Methods This was a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 52 general practitioners (GPs) of Flanders, Belgium. Results Apart from GPs who adhere to the existing prerequisites for PS, opinions diverge among GPs on the indication area for PS and on possible life-shortening intentions. The key to GPs' broadened view on "which suffering merits PS" is the fragile context of EoL home care, and the key to GPs' possible life-shortening intentions is their need to facilitate the dying process, when trying or lengthy. When honoring a terminally ill patient's request for euthanasia, several GPs prefer slow euthanasia using PS to a lethal injection. Conclusion PS home practice deviates from the PS guidelines' recommendations. In addition to the GPs' shortage of knowledge, the guidelines' recommendations do not always meet the particular needs of EoL home care. If one consideration of EoL home care is to respect a patient's wish to die at home, then the pre-emptive use of PS to avoid a futile transfer to the hospital in the case of an undesirable turn of events deserves more attention in the PS debate.

According to modern concepts, medical knowledge, communication skills, physical examination, and problem solving are four essential components of clinical competence of a physician. Communication and relationship have been demonstrated to have an impact on patients’ experience of care, to improve patients’ adherence to treatment regimens, clinical outcomes and quality, patient safety, teamwork, cultural sensitivity, and to reduce medical malpractice risk. Inter-professional communication between the various healthcare practitioners is another important aspect in the treatment of patients. Medicine is becoming a shared effort not only between the various healthcare practitioners involved in treatment but also the patients themselves. All parties involved would benefit from proper collaboration and communication. Appropriate communication is a cornerstone of modern medicine, where understanding and context-driven interview lead the way in improved patient experience. The medical interview is a complex process of taking information for the purpose of diagnosis, and it is an extremely important factor in establishing a relationship between doctors and patients. Integrated patient-centered and physician-centered interview builds a relationship, opens the discussion, gathers information, understands the patient’s perspective, shares information, reaches agreement, and provides closure. All these are essential elements of the medical interview. The person-centered medical interview is an important bridge between personalized and person-centered medicine. It is necessary to develop, evaluate, and implement training programs aimed at enhancing person-centerd communication and care.

Objective To describe the offer of continuing medical education (CME) in palliative care in Flanders, Belgium and to explore the way providers of CME address the preferences of general practitioners (GP's) towards CME. Methods Questionnaire-survey among official providers of formal CME. Results The response rate was 43%, equally distributed over all 5 provinces of Flanders. Data show large content gaps, an under usage of appropriate educational techniques and an absence of evaluation of the impact of CME on clinical practice. Providers of CME explain how they take the preferences of GP's concerning education in palliative care into account. Conclusions The present offer of CME is insufficient to educate GP's in palliative care. The absence of quality criteria and the lack of coordination between different providers results in an unattractive labyrinth of courses leaving GP's and their patients in the cold. Practice implications A comprehensive offer of CME sessions should be installed in a coordination between all providers. This could render the use of means (logistics and speakers) more efficient. Further research could look into other ways of acquiring palliative care competences such as evaluating the learning effect of GP's working together with specialized palliative home care teams.

Background In 2002, Belgium set a legal framework for euthanasia, whereby granting and performing euthanasia is entrusted entirely to physicians, and—as advised by Belgian Medical Deontology—in the context of a trusted patient–physician relationship. Euthanasia is, however, rarely practiced, so the average physician will not attain routine in this matter. Aim To explore how general practitioners in Flanders (Belgium) deal with euthanasia. This was performed via qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews with 52 general practitioners (GPs). Results Although GPs can understand a patient9s request for euthanasia, their own willingness to perform it is limited, based on their assumption that legal euthanasia equates to an injection that ends life abruptly. Their willingness to perform euthanasia is affected by the demanding nature of a patient9s request, by their views on what circumstances render euthanasia legitimate and by their own ability to inject a lethal dose. Several GPs prefer increasing opioid dosages and palliative sedation to a lethal injection, which they consider to fall outside the scope of euthanasia legislation. Conclusions Four attitudes can be identified: (1) willing to perform euthanasia; (2) only willing to perform as a last resort; (3) feeling incapable of performing; (4) refusing on principle. The situation where GPs have to consider the request and—if they grant it—to perform the act may result in arbitrary access to euthanasia for the patient. The possibility of installing transparent referral and support strategies for the GPs should be further examined. Further discussion is needed in the medical profession about the exact content of the euthanasia law.

Slort W, Pype P, Deveugele M. Communiceren met palliatieve patienten. Huisarts Wet 2011;54(11):614-7.

Background and aimCurrent health-care delivery requires increasingly proactive and inter-professional work. Therefore, collecting patient information and knowledge management is of paramount importance. General practitioners (GPs) are well placed to lead these evolving models of care delivery. However, it is unclear how they are handling these changes. To gain an insight into this matter, the HIV epidemic was chosen as a test case.MethodsData were collected and analysed from 13 semi-structured interviews with GPs, working in urban communities in Flanders.FindingsGPs use various types of patient information to estimate patients’ risk of HIV. The way in which sexual health information is collected and registered, depends on the type of information under discussion.General patient informationandmedical history dataare often automatically collected and registered. Proactively collectingsexual health informationis uncommon. Moreover, the registration of the latter is not obvious, mostly owing to insufficient space in the electronic medical record (EMR).ConclusionsGPs seem willing to systematically collect and registersexual health information, in particular about HIV-risk factors. They expressed a need for guidance together with practical adjustments of the EMR to adequately capture and share this information.

Objectives Although immigration and cancer care are two frequently discussed topics in healthcare, the combination of both has seldom been done. Little is known about how immigrant patients experience having cancer in a foreign country. The aim of the study is to gain deeper insight into the meaning of having cancer, in a foreign country and to identify the expectations and experiences of immigrant patients confronted with this disease. Methods Thirty adult non-western immigrant cancer patients were interviewed by means of an in-depth interview technique. The technique of constant comparison, derived from the constructivist grounded theory, was used to analyze the data from the interviews. Results Having cancer is a human experience, regardless of one’s country of origin. Patients show universal reactions and reaction patterns when confronted with cancer and dealing with cancer treatment. Immigrant patients experience specific obstacles when dealing with cancer, of which the language barrier is the most important. A general lack of accurate basic knowledge about health and disease was found, making certain patients more vulnerable. Conclusions and practice implications When dealing with cancer, immigrant patients are confronted with two major obstacles: a language barrier and a lack of knowledge about health and disease. The implications for a better practice occur on three levels: empowering patients, training healthcare professionals and adapting policy.

Background Many general practitioners (GPs) are willing to provide end-of-life (EoL) home care for their patients. International research on GPs’ approach to care in patients’ final weeks of life showed a combination of palliative measures with life-preserving actions. Aim To explore the GP’s perspective on life-preserving versus “letting go” decision-making in EoL home care. Design Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 52 Belgian GPs involved in EoL home care. Results Nearly all GPs adopted a palliative approach and an accepting attitude towards death. The erratic course of terminal illness can challenge this approach. Disruptive medical events threaten the prospect of a peaceful end-phase and death at home and force the GP either to maintain the patient’s (quality of) life for the time being or to recognize the event as a step to life closure and “letting the patient go”. Making the “right” decision was very difficult. Influencing factors included: the nature and time of the crisis, a patient’s clinical condition at the event itself, a GP’s level of determination in deciding and negotiating “letting go” and the patient’s/family’s wishes and preparedness regarding this death. Hospitalization was often a way out. Conclusions GPs regard alternation between palliation and life-preservation as part of palliative care. They feel uncertain about their mandate in deciding and negotiating the final step to life closure. A shortage of knowledge of (acute) palliative medicine as one cause of difficulties in letting-go decisions may be underestimated. Sharing all these professional responsibilities with the specialist palliative home care teams would lighten a GP’s burden considerably.Key PointsA late transition from a life-preserving mindset to one of “letting go” has been reported as a reason why physicians resort to life-preserving actions in an end-of-life (EoL) context. We investigated GPs’ perspectives on this matter.Not all GPs involved in EoL home care adopt a “letting go” mindset. For those who do, this mindset is challenged by the erratic course of terminal illness.GPs prioritize the quality of the remaining life and the serenity of the dying process, which is threatened by disruptive medical events.Making the “right” decision is difficult. GPs feel uncertain about their own role and responsibility in deciding and negotiating the final step to life closure.

Background: Working and learning go hand in hand during interprofessional collaborative practice. Patients' nursing records are designed to record patient care and health status. It is not known whether these records are also used to keep track of interprofessional contacts or interprofessional learning between team members. This study explored the usefulness of patients' nursing records in optimising interprofessional workplace learning for general practitioners. Methods: We utilized a descriptive retrospective chart review. All palliative home care teams of the Dutch speaking part of Belgium were involved. Throughout the year 2010, a representative sample of patient charts was selected. Characteristics of encounters between general practitioners and palliative care nurses were extracted from the charts. Results: Detailed accounts of interprofessional contacts were found in the charts. Palliative care nurses recorded number and type of contacts, topics discussed during contacts and general practitioner's learning activities. Discussion: Palliative care nurses are sensitive and open towards the general practitioners' learning needs. Patients' nursing records provide useful information for interprofessional team discussions on workplace learning. Healthcare professionals should be trained to respond to each other's learning needs.

Background There is a growing need for palliative care. The majority of palliative patients prefer their general practitioner (GP) to organize their palliative home care. General practitioners need a range of competences to perform this task. However, there has been nogeneral description so far of how GPs keep these competences up-to-date. The present study explores current experiences, views and preferences towards training and education in palliative care among GPs, palliative home-care professionals and professionals from organizations who provide training and education. Methods Five focus groups were brought together in Belgium, with a total of 29 participants, including members of the three categories mentioned above. They were analysed using a constant comparison method. Results The analysis revealed that undergraduate education and continuing medical education (CME) while in practice, is insufficient to prepare GPs for their palliative work. Workplace learning (WPL) through collaboration with specialized palliative home-care nurses seems to be a valuable alternative. Conclusions The effectiveness of undergraduate education might be enhanced by adding practical experience. Providers of continuing medical education should look to organize interactive, practice-based and interprofessional sessions. Therefore, teachers need to be trained to run small group discussions. In order to optimize workplace learning, health care professionals should be trained to monitor each other's practice and to provide effective feedback. Further research is needed to clarify which aspects of interprofessional teamwork (e.g. professional hierarchy, agreements on tasks and responsibilities) influence the effectiveness of workplace learning.

Background Palliative care often requires inter-professional collaboration, offering opportunities to learn from each other. General practitioners often collaborate with specialized palliative home care teams. This study seeks to identify what, how and from whom health care professionals learn during this collaboration. Methods Cross-sectional survey in Belgium. All palliative home care teams were invited to participate. General practitioners (n = 267) and palliative care nurses (n = 73) filled in questionnaires. Results General practitioners (GPs) and palliative care nurses learned on all palliative care aspects. Different learning activities were used. Participants learned from all others involved in patient care. The professionals’ discipline influences the content, the way of learning and who learns from whom. Multiple linear regression shows significant but limited association of gender with amount of learning by GPs (M F; p = 0.019; Adj R2 = 0.01). Conclusions This study is the first to reveal what, how and from whom learning occurs during collaboration in palliative care. Training professionals in sharing expertise during practice and in detecting and adequately responding to others’ learning needs, could optimize this way of learning. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0501-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objective Working alongside specialized palliative care nurses brings about learning opportunities for general practitioners. The views of these nurses toward their role as facilitator of learning is unknown. The aim of this study is to clarify the views and preferences of these nurses toward their role as facilitator of physicians’ learning. Methods Qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews. We interviewed 21 palliative care nurses in Belgium who were trained in the role of learning facilitator. Data were analyzed using Grounded Theory principles. Results First all interviewees shared the conviction that patient care is their core business. Secondly two core themes were defined: nurses’ preferences toward sharing knowledge and their balancing between patient care and team care. Combining these themes yielded a typology of nurses’ behavioral style: the clinical expert-style, the buddy-style, the coach-style and the mediator-style. Conclusions Palliative care nurses’ interpretation of the role as facilitator of general practitioners’ learning diverges according to personal characteristics and preferences. Practice implications Asking clinical expert nurses to become a facilitator of other professional's learning requires personal mentoring during this transition. Nurses’ preferences toward practice behavior should be taken into account.

De meeste palliatieve patienten wensen thuis verzorgd te worden tot het overlijden. Om deze complexe taak tot een goed einde te brengen kunnen huisartsen een beroep doen op expert-verpleegkundigen van regionale palliatieve thuiszorgequipes.

There is a growing need for palliative care, with the majority of palliative patients preferring palliative home care from their general practitioner (GP). GPs join specialized palliative home care teams (PHCTs) to perform this task. GPs' views on this collaboration are not known. This study explores the perceptions and preferences of GPs toward interprofessional collaboration. By employing a grounded theory approach, five focus groups were conducted in Flanders, Belgium with a total of 29 participants (professionals from PHCTs; professionals from organizations who provide training and education in palliative care and GPs who are not connected to either of the aforementioned groups). Analysis revealed that GPs considered palliative home care as part of their job. Good relationships with patients and families were considered fundamental in the delivery of high quality care. Factors influencing effective interprofessional collaboration were team competences, team arrangements (responsibilities and task description) and communication. GPs' willingness to share responsibilities with equally competent team members requires further research.

M. Gemma Cherry *, Anne-Linda Frisch , Marij A. Hillen , Valentina Martinelli , Peter F. Pype , Isabelle Scholl , Nete Schwenessen , Kimberly A. Gudzune h Centre for Excellence in Evidence Based Teaching and Learning (CEEBLT), School of Medical Education, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK b Institute of Communication and Health (ICH), Department of Communication Sciences, Universita Della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland Department of Medical Psychology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands d Section of Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium Department of Medical Psychology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany g Steno Health Promotion Center, Patient Education Research Team, Gentofte, Denmark Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

The article discusses a survey on postgraduate education on palliative care in Belgium in 2007 and the structure for assessment of activities under continuing medical education (CME). The article highlights that the education available to general practitioners (GPs) for improving their palliative care competences does not have centrally managed content or quality. It also mentions the lack of assessment of CME activities, and offers suggestions on how to improve existing CME programs.

Major changes in populations’ needs warrant an integration of health and social care delivery through interprofessional collaboration. However, collaboration may be hampered due to the self-categorization within a distinct professional group leading to profession-centrism, in which professionals hold firm beliefs in the value of their own ideas and practices while devaluing those of others. Developing an interprofessional identity (IPI) could reduce profession-centrism, but different conceptualizations in the literature hinder the interpretation and translation of research findings. Therefore, a concept analysis and critical interpretative synthesis of research articles were carried out to explore these conceptualizations. Independent screening and analysis of 39 out of 1334 articles by two researchers led to the defining of essential attributes that refer to both IPI’s structural properties and the core beliefs indicative of an interprofessional orientation. On the basis of these attributes, a synthesizing argument was created, supplemented with illustrative vignettes and empirical referents. As IPI is likely to be the missing link between professional development and interprofessional collaboration, this synthesis is important as a guiding framework presenting what constitutes IPI, as well as the boundary conditions (antecedents) and consequences (outcomes) of its construction. Further empirical research is needed to validate links and mediating and moderating variables.

Background Good patient-pharmacist communication improves health outcomes. There is, however, room for improving pharmacists’ communication skills. These develop through complex interactions during undergraduate pharmacy education, practice-based learning and continuing professional development. Research is needed to determine how best to approach teaching patient-pharmacist communication. Methods The aim of the research is to understand how educational interventions develop patient-pharmacist interpersonal communication skills produce their effects. A realist review approach will be used to synthesise the literature to make sense of the complexities of educational interventions. Our review will iteratively progress through the various stages of clarifying scope, locating existing theories, searching for evidence, appraisal of papers, data extraction and synthesis. A scoping review revealed a number of substantive theories, which will be used to build an initial programme theory. This will be explored through available published evidence, which we will find by searching databases such as Medline, EMBASE, PsychInfo, ERIC, Scopus and Web of Science. Judgements will be made on the relevance and rigour of the retrieved literature and will be taken into consideration during analysis and synthesis. Synthesis, testing and refinement of the theories will describe and explain the links between contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of educational interventions for communication development in pharmacy. Discussion The realist review will provide an analysis of what works when, for whom, how and why, for educational interventions for interpersonal patient-pharmacist communication development. We will also explore barriers to successful communications training and acknowledge any limitations. Ultimately, we plan to provide pharmacy educators with evidence for how best to incorporate educational interventions for communications skills development into pharmacy curricula and for life-long learning opportunities for pharmacists. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13643-016-0396-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.