Difficult Conversations Workshop for Sexual Health Receptionists

The Brief:

This case study will outline the implementation and impact of a simulation-based workshop designed to support NHS sexual health receptionists in developing communication skills and confidence in engaging in challenging patient interactions.

The Problem:

Receptionists are often the first person a patient may interact with from a sexual health clinic and conversations are likely to be of a personal nature, requiring sensitive and delicate communication skills.

The Requirement:

The workshop was required first to furnish participants with the ability to identify and understand what a sensitive conversation is and the challenges that this may involve.  It was then required to provide participants with the communication skills to approach these conversations with empathy, sensitivity and confidence. Communication skills required included active listening, the effective use of silences and paraphrasing. De-escalation techniques were an additional requirement of the workshop, alongside an awareness of how and when to escalate situations to colleagues.

The Outcome:

The simulation-based workshop consisted of forum theatre and observed simulation delivered by actors. A communication framework called STEPS (Start, Time, Empathy, Provision of Support, Sense Check) was provided to assist participants in preparing for and navigating challenging conversations.  Participants were given the opportunity to interact with actor role players who were taking on the roles of patients and colleagues in a variety of scenarios within a sexual health reception and waiting area setting. The scenarios covered different themes, including de-escalation of an agitated patient who had missed their appointment, interacting with a patient who is feeling embarrassed about a Sexually Transmitted Disease and managing unachievable requests from a patient requesting HIV medication. The simulated scenarios were then followed by structured debriefs facilitated by experts, drawing out identified themes and learning objectives and providing the opportunity for feedback and reflection upon participants’ previous experiences and perspectives.

Tangible Results:

Analysis of the evaluations demonstrate a clear shift in knowledge from before the workshop to after the workshop. This is shown in figure 1; before the workshop 20% of the participants expressed either limited, neutral, or no knowledge about managing difficult conversations whereas following the workshop, 100% of the participants expressed excellent or good knowledge in this area.

Figure 1: Before and after breakdown of participants responses

A comprehensive breakdown of participants’ self-assessed learning outcomes before and after the workshop is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Full breakdown of participants’ responses

The evaluation also encouraged the participants to note any qualitative comments they had on the workshop (figure 3).

Figure 3: qualitative comments from participants

Conclusion:

The simulation-based workshop, “Difficult Conversations Workshop for Sexual Health Receptionists” significantly aided participants in developing their confidence and communication skills in engaging in challenging and sensitive conversations with patients.