Communication is an essential therapeutic weapon. It allows access to the beginning of patient autonomy, informed consent, mutual confidence, information for the patient and family needs for being helped and to help themselves. We considered analyzing the communication problem of bad news important, in the attempt to be able to contribute to a better consciousness of difficulties in this matter and improve the communication process. With regards to the exposed and considering the inclusion of "bad news" in health, we thought it would be important to conduct an exploratory study with the objective of learning about the representations of health professionals and citizens concerning "bad news" in health. This was carried out through semi-structured interviews with doctors, nurses, citizens, given the understanding of what "bad news" in health actually meant to them. The results from these studies suggest that "bad news" is almost always associated with death or serious illness without cure, especially oncological illnesses.
Professional-family relations; Ethics; Comunication
