The SPIKES protocol is a structured communication framework for delivering serious or distressing medical information, sequencing an interview through setting, assessing perception, obtaining invitation, delivering knowledge, addressing emotion, and summarizing/strategizing next steps. Underlying this framework are principles of clinical communication theory: pacing information disclosure to a patient's emotional readiness, framing prognosis around available options rather than foreclosed ones, and treating disclosure as an iterative process rather than a single event. This body of practice belongs to medical communication skills / clinical psychosocial care, situated within oncology and hematology training as a teachable competency rather than an innate trait.
The SPIKES protocol is a structured communication framework for delivering serious or distressing medical information, sequencing an interview through setting, assessing perception, obtaining invitat…