We will get through this together. Trustworthy memorable messages in formal caregiving for breast cancer patients.

Abstract

To reconstruct memorable messages which breast cancer patients recalled receiving from their clinicians for understanding how they build trust in doctors. This qualitative study used in-depth interviews and lifelines to explore the experiences of 24 breast cancer patients in Poland and Croatia on memorable messages in formal caregiving. Purposive sampling was used. Data was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The overarching theme of trustworthy memorable messages was developed, and it covers the themes: memorable messages of hope, memorable messages of empowerment, educational memorable messages, empathetic memorable messages, and empathetic nonverbal memorable messages. Verbal and nonverbal types of trustworthy memorable messages were distinguished. Notably, empathetic memorable messages were the only category that appeared in both verbal and nonverbal forms. These results enrich the study of memorable messages, enhancing the understanding of communication behaviors in building trust in the doctor-patient relationship. To build trust with patients, health providers should not only demonstrate their experience, competence, and knowledge, but also actively listen, use appropriate words, provide detailed explanations, show interest in doubts, and reported disturbing symptoms, understand their emotions and feelings, and show caring for patients at every stage of coping with health crisis from the pre-diagnosis tests to post-treatment health monitoring. Healthcare providers should be very well prepared to communicate with patients and their informal caregivers at every stage of healthcare. The basis for such preparation is patient-oriented learning aimed to improve the ability to recognize a patient's needs and emotions and to communicate empathetically with a person experiencing a physical and mental health crisis. It is recommended to establish teams consisting of physicians, psycho-oncologists, educators, and social competence trainers in order to jointly develop solutions for better communication with breast cancer patients at various stages of coping with the disease, from the pre-diagnosis tests to post-treatment health monitoring.