Reconsidering the Language of Serious Illness

Jacqueline M Kruser; Justin T Clapp; Robert M Arnold

doi:10.1001/jama.2023.11409

Reconsidering the Language of Serious Illness

JAMA. 2023 Aug 15;330(7):587-588. doi: 10.1001/jama.2023.11409.

Authors

Jacqueline M Kruser¹, Justin T Clapp^{2

3}, Robert M Arnold⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Public Health and Medicine, Madison.
² Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
³ Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Section of Palliative Care and Medical Ethics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

No abstract available

Plain language summary

This Viewpoint expresses how use of certain language complicates decision-making for critically ill patients, and it highlights alternative phrasing for effective communication.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Communication*
Critical Illness* / psychology
Critical Illness* / therapy
Decision Making*
Humans
Language*

Grants and funding

K23 HL146890/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/United States