FAQ

We offer clinicians practical tools to support them in strengthening their communication toolkit. We conduct virtual in-person communication skills training to help clinicians maximize their success in supporting seriously ill patients and their families. We also teach clinicians how to document wishes and important conversations in the electronic medical record.

The Serious Illness Care Program, developed at Ariadne Labs, is an evidence-based intervention designed to improve serious illness care. We adapted their conversation guides for local use and are using their system-based approach to think about how we provide care at UHN.

VitalTalk is a not-for-profit organization that teaches health care providers communication and teaching skills enabling high-quality serious illness conversations. We adapted their conversation guides for local use and all of our workshop facilitators and communication coaches completed their faculty development training in order to standardize and strengthen our teaching.

The Conversation Lab, developed at UHN, is a comprehensive initiative encompassing education, innovation, research, and system-based improvements to enhance serious illness care. By adapting evidence-based tools from established programs, collaborating with local stakeholders to create new resources, and utilizing VitalTalk’s teaching method, we standardize how clinicians are trained to use these tools. We believe that fostering a common language and approach to this critical work unifies our healthcare system and drives better care outcomes.

While The Conversation Lab is aimed at educating health care providers and conducting research to improve serious illness care, we developed a guide for patients and families to think about how to plan for their future care. This guide is available on the Clinician Tools page here. It is for education purposes only. We encourage you to review it with someone you trust as well as your health care providers. If you are a patient at UHN, you can share relevant information electronically through your patient chart. Learn more by clicking here.

To take an online module, go to the Learning Opportunities page under eModules, click ENROLL and follow the prompts.

Note: Access is complimentary for TeamUHN. Use this link to access the modules for free.

Thank you for your interest in training with us! To take a workshop, go to the Learning Opportunities page select Step 2, click ENROLL and follow the prompts.

Note: access is free for TeamUHN members with a UHN email address.

Step 1: complete our program’s online learning modules.
Step 2: attend our half-day workshop.
Step 3: email us to request a ‘TWH communication skills coaching session’.

We are very grateful to have generous UHN Foundation support enabling us to create and deliver our programming, and to study our impact and continue to develop innovative ways to deliver best-in-class care. Course registration fees help us cover costs and reinvest in enhancing our programs.

We have faculty from the following specialties at UHN: neurosurgery, family medicine, palliative medicine, radiation oncology, medical oncology, critical care medicine, geriatric medicine, and internal medicine. We are all licensed VitalTalk Faculty using an evidence-based deliberate practice teaching method to cultivate skill.

E-mail us at theconversationlab@uhn.ca. We look forward to connecting with you.