When Rapport Building Extends Beyond Affiliation: Communication Overaccommodation Toward Patients with Disabilities

Abstract

Physician rapport with patients is described as a vital component of relationship-centered care, but rapport-building communication behaviors may exceed boundaries and instead indicate patronizing behavior toward patients with disabilities. This paper addresses the types of communication behaviors and contexts for interpreting when rapport building extends beyond boundaries toward patients with disabilities. Videotaped interactions between third- and fourth-year medical students (N = 142) and standardized patient educators with physical disabilities were qualitatively analyzed. Results suggest six primary themes of exceeding expected rapport boundaries, including baby talk (ie, exaggerated nonverbal gestures and "we" language to indicate "you"), kinesic movement (ie, stiff posture and awkward handshakes), vocalics (ie, volume or pitch that interfered with the flow of conversation), relationship assumptions (ie, communicating assumptions that relationships were grounded in care-receiving), emotional divergence from patient disclosure (ie, minimizing or embellishing disability), and inconsistency with patient emotional cues (ie, responding to negative or neutral disclosure by overly accentuating positive interpretation). This study suggests that communication behaviors generally described as positive, rapport-building behaviors can pose negative implications when they exceed the expected quantity or duration, when they are inconsistent with patient verbal disclosure, or when verbal and nonverbal messages are inconsistent. Identified themes serve as examples to understand when rapport building exceeds beyond affiliation and instead appears to indicate patronizing behavior toward patients with disabilities. Suggestions for interpreting communication behaviors within the context of patient disclosure and building capacity to distinguish attitudes and biases limiting communication are addressed.