The Other Side of the Conversation: Feeling the Weight of Serious News

Monday, April 28, 2025

2:00pm – 3:30pm HST

Location: Convention Center: 308

CE: 1.5

Leader(s)

Andy Liu, MD (he/him/his)

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Georgetown University Medical Center, United States

Co-Leader(s)

Patience Leino, CLSSGB

Program Manager of the ABP Foundation
American Board of Pediatrics
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States
Sara Sanders, MD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Connecticut Children's Medical Center
Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Joshua Arenth, BE, MD, HEC-C

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Medical University of South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
WM

Whitney Marvin, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor Pediatric Critical Care
MUSC
Charleston, South Carolina, United States
Benny Joyner, Jr., MD, MPH (he/him/his)

A. Conger Goodyear Professor & Chair, Department of Pediatrics;
John R. Oishei Children's Hospital
Durham, North Carolina, United States

Disclosure(s):

Andy Liu, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Patience Leino, CLSSGB: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Sara C. Sanders, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Joshua Arenth, BE, MD, HEC-C: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Whitney Marvin, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Benny L. Joyner, MD, MPH, Jr.: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Workshop Description: This workshop explores the emotional and cognitive challenges families face when receiving serious news. Through family testimonials and small-group simulations, participants will take on the role of recipients, experiencing firsthand the difficulties that families face. By stepping into these scenarios, healthcare professionals will enhance their skills in delivering serious news with greater empathy and discernment, while learning practical tools to incorporate family-centered care into their practice.

Clinicians often overlook or underestimate the emotional toll and mental strain families endure when confronted with serious news, leaving them feeling unsupported and overwhelmed. Despite the importance of delivering serious news about pediatric patients, there remains a significant gap in training that emphasizes understanding the family's perspective. This workshop addresses this gap by providing a unique opportunity for participants to experience being on the receiving end, thereby gaining a deeper, more empathetic understanding of how these discussions impact them.

Learning Objectives:

Recognize the common emotional responses of families when receiving serious news about their child's health, and understand the cognitive impacts it has on their decision-making process and coping mechanisms.
Apply family-centered communication strategies for delivering serious news in clinical settings to support families when receiving serious news.
Engage in reflective practice by sharing and discussing personal experiences and challenges in delivering serious news to families.