Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Communication Skills

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

  • 211 Accesses

Synonyms

Doctor-Patient Interactions

Definition

Communication skills are an essential medium through which physicians interact with patients, in order to diagnose and treat patients. According to Ong et al. (1995), doctor-patient communication has three main roles: (1) to create a positive interpersonal relationship, (2) exchange information, and (3) make treatment-related decisions. A positive interpersonal relationship includes facilitation of trust between the patient and a health professional that enables honest bidirectional expression of concerns and report of behaviors (e.g., risky behaviors, nonadherence). Exchange of information is the basis of the doctor-patient interaction, where information from patient to doctor enables the latter to arrive at more accurate diagnoses and to decide about more suitable and effective treatments. Similarly, adequate exchange of information from physician to patient enables the doctor to inform the patient about risks of unhealthy behaviors...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References and Further Readings

  • Beck, R. S., Daughtridge, R., & Sloane, P. D. (2002). Physician-patient communication in the primary care office: A systematic review. Journal of the American Board of Family Practice, 15, 25–38.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Di Blasi, Z., Harkness, E., Ernst, E., Georgiou, A., & Kleijnen, J. (2001). Influence of context effects on health outcomes: A systematic review. Lancet, 357, 757–762.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Inui, T. S., Yourtee, E. L., & Williamson, J. W. (1976). Improved outcomes in hypertension after physician tutorials. A controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine, 84, 646–651.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ong, L. M., de Haes, J. C., Hoos, A. M., & Lammes, F. B. (1995). Doctor-patient communication: A review of the literature. Social Science & Medicine, 40, 903–918.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • van den Brink-Muinen, A., van Dulmen, S. M., de Haes, H. C., Visser, A. P., Schellevis, F. G., & Bensing, J. M. (2006). Has patients’ involvement in the decision-making process changed over time? Health Expectations, 9, 333–342.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Free University of Brussels (VUB), 103, Laarbeeklaan, 1090, Jette, Belgium

    Yori Gidron

Authors
  1. Yori Gidron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yori Gidron .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA

    Marc Gellman

  2. Campbell University School of Pharmacy, Buies Creek, North Carolina, USA

    J. Rick Turner

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this entry

Cite this entry

Gidron, Y. (2016). Communication Skills. In: Gellman, M., Turner, J. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1372-2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6439-6_1372-2

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-6439-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation