# Supporting Family Caregivers’ Clinical Communication Skills: Adapting a Cancer Caregiver Communication Model for Dementia Caregiving

## TL;DR

This paper adapts a communication model for cancer caregivers to help dementia caregivers improve their communication with healthcare teams, promoting better care outcomes.

## Contribution

The study adapts the C3PM-Cancer model into a dementia-specific communication model (C3PM-Dementia) based on caregiver interviews.

## Key findings

- Dementia caregivers use similar communication strategies as cancer caregivers before, during, and after medical appointments.
- Emotionally focused communication is crucial in dementia care to preserve dignity and reduce stress.
- The adapted C3PM-Dementia model can guide caregivers and improve communication with clinical teams.

## Abstract

Public health relevance—How does this work relate to a public health issue?
Family caregivers spend about 90 h weekly providing care, accounting for nearly USD 350 billion in care annually, with little to no psychosocial support.Clinical teams increasingly rely on dementia caregivers as dementia progresses and could benefit from clinical communication skills guidance.

Family caregivers spend about 90 h weekly providing care, accounting for nearly USD 350 billion in care annually, with little to no psychosocial support.

Clinical teams increasingly rely on dementia caregivers as dementia progresses and could benefit from clinical communication skills guidance.

Public health significance—Why is this work of significance to public health?
The Caregiver Clinical Communication Process Model (C3PM) can guide caregivers on strategies to enact before, during, after, and between medical encounters to effectively communicate to achieve care goals.In dementia caregiving, emotionally focused communication is prioritized to achieve emotionally centered care goals like preserving the loved one’s dignity and buffering them from stress related to medical care.

The Caregiver Clinical Communication Process Model (C3PM) can guide caregivers on strategies to enact before, during, after, and between medical encounters to effectively communicate to achieve care goals.

In dementia caregiving, emotionally focused communication is prioritized to achieve emotionally centered care goals like preserving the loved one’s dignity and buffering them from stress related to medical care.

Public health implications—What are the key implications or messages for practitioners, policy makers and/or researchers in public health?
Dementia caregivers would benefit from psychosocial support that helps them build clinical communication skills.Nurses and clinical teams can utilize the C3PM-Dementia model as a visual tool. It can be provided to caregivers soon after diagnosis so that caregivers have a guide to refer to and utilize in their own time and as the disease progresses.

Dementia caregivers would benefit from psychosocial support that helps them build clinical communication skills.

Nurses and clinical teams can utilize the C3PM-Dementia model as a visual tool. It can be provided to caregivers soon after diagnosis so that caregivers have a guide to refer to and utilize in their own time and as the disease progresses.

Background: Psychosocial support that enhances caregivers’ clinical communication skills can alleviate distress while enhancing their ability to communicate with nurses and clinical teams to achieve care goals. We sought to adapt a cancer caregiver clinical communication model (C3PM-Cancer) for dementia spousal caregivers that identifies key communication strategies they can enact before, during, after, and between appointments to promote better care. Methods: Interviews were conducted with caregivers of spouses diagnosed with dementia within the last 10 years. Data were thematically analyzed to confirm and extend the communication strategies and care goals in C3PM-Cancer to develop C3PM-Dementia. Results: Caregivers for spouses with dementia in our sample reported the same strategies and goals in each communication phase of C3PM-Cancer, which provides support for the utility of these caregiving communication skills across these two disease contexts. They described the importance of new communication strategies, which informed an emotionally focused communication approach used to protect their spouse’s personhood and dignity. The findings inform the adapted C3PM-Dementia. Conclusions: C3PM-Dementia can be an educational tool offered by clinicians to caregivers to provide guidance on key communication strategies to enact before, during, after, and between appointments to achieve critical care goals. The model can enhance communication between caregivers and clinicians, which can promote better outcomes in both cancer and dementia care.