Good Doctor-patient Communication Research Articles

CARING FOR THEMSELVES: FACILITATORS AND BARRIERS TO WOMEN HOME CARE WORKERS WHO ARE CHRONICALLY ILL FOLLOWING THEIR CARE PLAN

Compliance literature has paid little attention to the ability of patients to carry out their care plan. Indeed, throughout this literature, the voices of patients are disturbingly absent. In this paper, I report a study of compliance issues among women home care workers who were chronically ill. Twenty-nine women participated in five focus groups. They were asked to share perspectives on what helps, what hinders, and how their health care providers were either facilitators or barriers to their care plan. Key findings were identified through a qualitative content analysis. My findings suggest that perspectives on compliance, which do not begin with an understanding of factors affecting compliance within the individual's control, are unrealistic. For these women, following a care plan required being sufficiently motivated and having necessary supports. Supports were identified as good doctor-patient communication, adequate financial resources, time and ability to attend to their care, and spirituality. Yet, even if all supports were in place, if participants did not have a stated motivation (i.e. sufficient reason to follow their care plan), they continued to go through the motions. My study suggests that recognizing the personal context of chronic illness may be what motivates patients to follow their care plan. This finding can be used by providers for patient assessment, and may help to form a foundation for empathic communication.

Risk management in surgery for the treatment of vertigo

Medical risk management for prevention of medical adverse events is not a question of morality, but science. Medical risk management activities should improve the quality of medical management, in addition to taking countermeasures against mistakes. Surgical risk management activities consist of informed consent with good doctor-patient communication, surgical skills to avoid postoperative complications and detailed surgical records. Risk management in surgery for the treatment of vertigo is discussed.

The consumer perspective.

As with all healthcare services, public or private, what matters most to consumers is that they get a quality service that meets their needs. Consumers will gain if corporatisation means doctors are freed from administrative tasks and can spend more time with their patients, but pressure to increase profits may compromise the GP-patient relationship. A broad range of services "under the one roof" offers convenience and ease of access for consumers, particularly families and older people. All types of practices should listen to consumer concerns, and strive to meet their expectations of quality, accessible healthcare and good doctor-patient communication.

Spanish-English English-Spanish Medical Dictionary

Language barriers are one of the major impediments to good doctor-patient communication and relationships. The ongoing increase of the Hispanic population in the United States has made the need for bilingual medical dictionaries greater than in the past. This dictionary is written by two Tucson (Ariz) teachers who teach Spanish to health care professionals. It contains a list of common abbreviations, conversion tables, and vocabulary in side-by-side columns, first Spanish-to-English, and then English-to-Spanish. Appendixes include expressions for weights and measures, temperature, numerals, and time; topics of communication; and signs and symptoms of the most common disorders and diseases. The book is user-friendly in all respects. This handy reference book should be on the desk of any physician or health care worker who deals with Hispanic patients. The authors have provided a valuable service, and are to be commended for their efforts, which will result in improved doctor-patient communication and, therefore,