Nonverbal Communication In Medicine

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"The importance of nonverbal communication in the medical profession"

Communication skills are quite essential in civilized societies. This is due to their numerous conventions in different aspects of life. These skills do not only involve the verbal side but also the nonverbal side. Nonverbal communication importance used to be neglected by individuals in the past. However, in recent years, people are starting to recognize their crucial roles in their daily lives. They are now more interested in the nonverbal phenomenon. Nonverbal communication is dominated by emotions. It is a method of conveying one's feeling including body postures, facial expressions and even physical contact. Although nonverbal communication might be associated with the social context, it is widely required and used in various professions. Medicine is one of the fields, where the use of nonverbal communication is applied by doctors. This essay provides a framework on how nonverbal communication influences the patients and doctors rapport, the elements that determine it and how it is incorporated in the medical field including diagnosing, consultation and treatment.
The doctor and patient relationship can be highly affected by nonverbal communication. This relationship is dependent on the emotions of both doctors and patients, not only on one of them. Postures, eye contact and smiling of the doctors can contribute in the satisfaction of the patient. This also increases the connectedness the patient has for the doctor, thus the patients feel more comfortable to talk to their doctors. Patients tend to be more pleased with doctors who are good at conveying and expressing their emotions though certain gestures and postures, and accurately understanding the nonv...

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...er, : British Journal of General Practice.
10.Beck, Rainer, Rebecca Daughtridge & Philip Sloane (2002). “Physician-Patient Communication in the Primary Care Office: A Systematic Review.” The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 15(1), 25-38.
11.Kinnersley P, Edwards A, Hood K, et al. Interventions before consultations to help patients address their information needs by encouraging question asking: systematic review. BMJ. 2008;337:a485.
12.Zandbelt LC, Smets EM, Oort FJ, et al. Patient participation in the medical specialist encounter: does physicians' patient-centred communication matter?Patient Educ Couns. 2007;65(3):396–406.
13. Bensing JM, Tromp F, van Dulmen S, et al. Shifts in doctor-patient communication between 1986 and 2002: a study of videotaped general practice consultations with hypertension patients. BMC Fam Pract. 2006;7:62.

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