How to Give Difficult News

Chapter 8 describes how to explain problematic findings from screening tests. Although the suggestions are helpful for making any diagnosis, when it comes to screening we are dealing with probabilities—high probabilities that need to taken seriously –but are, nevertheless, not definitive.

Obviously, we will be making referrals for children whose results are concerning and we want parents to follow through with our recommendations. Chapter 8 describes how to facilitate parent follow-through. One of the recommendations we make in the book is to give parents a take-home letter indicating results and recommendations. We include on this page a downloadable letter in Word (in both English and Spanish) so that you can modify it as needed. Please note that most online screening services generate letters for you—saving lots of professional time and expense.