Sunday 24 April 2016

Introduction: In one hundred and sixty stories, told by cancer patients, what did they say? This original research found that benefits resulted for both the patients, by telling their story, and the professionals providing their care who actively listened. Methods: The research being described concentrated exclusively on understanding what the patients were expressing through their storytelling. The methodology blended grounded theory and interpretative phenomenology in the analysis of the patients’ stories. It sought to interpret the patient’s own approach to their diagnosis and treatment through an analysis of the feelings, self-talk, and the meaning they found in their changed lives. Critical reflection on the findings and comparison with published research allowed some unique conclusions to be made about communication and well-being. Results: This joint presentation contains: stories revealing what the patient said; how active listening by professionals in their care of the patient during diagnosis and treatment affected their experience; what professional researchers concluded about active listening; roadblocks to active listening; and indications of what these findings might mean for medical radiations professionals dealing with their patients. Conclusions: Making the effort required to achieve active listening is shown to enhance the well-being of patients and oncology professionals personally. Clinical practice is increasingly complex both technologically and psychologically. Medical radiations professionals are increasingly time poor. However time devoted to identifying and removing roadblocks to communication with patients is rewarded with enhanced mutual well-being. Simply bringing an active listening presence is healing in itself. The expressions of well-being made by cancer patients are shown broken down by gender and plotted against the total number of references found in the studied cancer patient stories. (The female value appears first in each pair of bars and is red). Sunday 24 April 0900–1030 Medical Imaging Rise and Shine