Table 1.

Expert Interview Guide.

Question #	Interview Question
1	If you want your patient to have a crystal clear understanding of his or her prognosis, what are the most important things to talk about (list as many as you can think of)?
2	Are there any observable behaviors or signs that tell you that a patient does not understand his or her prognosis?
3	Do you have any techniques for gauging a patient’s understanding of prognosis?
4	What areas of a patient’s prognosis do you have trouble communicating to a patient?
5	Are there some aspects of a patient’s prognosis that you find hard to broach?
6	Are there some aspects that are hard for patients to understand or accept?
7	If a patient does not seem to understand some aspects of his or her prognosis, which aspects are so important that you feel the need to explain them again or more thoroughly?
8	What types of questions should patients ask in order to gain a complete understanding of prognosis?
9	Are there aspects of the illness or treatment that patients may want to know about that you think are unnecessary (or rarely necessary) to discuss?
10	If a patient resists discussion of some aspect of his or her prognosis, are there some topics that are so important that you feel compelled to discuss them anyway? If so, which topics?
11	How do you differentiate optimism or hopefulness from denial about prognosis in your patients?
12	Is there a point where optimism becomes unrealistic?
13	Is that different than denial of prognosis?
14	Have you noticed any differences among patients from various cultural groups in how they speak about or understand the term prognosis?
15	Do you alter how you discuss prognosis based upon patients’ ethnic or cultural background