Supporting Patients and Their Families through Active Listening with Thomas Smith, MD

In this short video, Thomas Smith, MD, Professor of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of Palliative Medicine, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the importance of asking patients and their families about how they are coping and listening with attention and compassion.

“Sometimes even more than words is just being with the person and being silent. Pulling up the chair saying, ‘Tell me how things are going?’ And doing the hardest thing for doctors and nurses to do, which is shut up. People will tell you. People will say, ‘I am just so afraid of dying,’ ‘I’m so afraid of being in pain,’ ‘I’m so afraid of leaving my family,’ ‘I’m so afraid of missing out on watching my grandkids grow up.’ So I think active listening is really really important and not done enough.” Watch the video to hear more:

Find more videos on our YouTube channel ›

Learn more