Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Department of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Department of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Patient Educ Couns. 2018 Jul;101(7):1223-1231. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2018.02.012. Epub 2018 Feb 21.
This qualitative study examines patients' and oncologists' views on how to best address emotions during consultations, and explores oncologists' opinions on their own communication and on strategies to improve oncologists' response to patients' emotions.
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 cancer patients and 13 oncologists, after watching videotaped consultations illustrating three communication strategies for addressing emotions.
Many participants preferred emotion-oriented speech to address patients' emotions; this strategy was assumed to (positively) affect a broad range of outcomes. Nevertheless, some preferred attentive silence or no emotion-oriented talk at all. Oncologists and patients had similar views on factors that may hinder oncologists to address emotions. Generally, oncologists mentioned that their response to emotions could be improved; for this, various (educational) strategies were suggested.
Patients and oncologists generally agree that patients' emotions can best be addressed by empathic, explorative, acknowledging, and supportive statements. Still, differences in preferences exist, thus oncologists need to attune their communication to the individual patient.
The findings can inform medical communication training and encourage oncologists to improve their communication. The regular videotaping of consultations might be a promising method to provide feedback and reflect, thereby improving oncologists' response to patients' emotions.
本定性研究探讨了患者和肿瘤医生对于在咨询中如何最佳处理情绪的看法，并探讨了肿瘤医生对于其自身沟通方式的看法，以及改善肿瘤医生对患者情绪反应的策略。
对 16 名癌症患者和 13 名肿瘤医生进行了半结构式访谈，他们在观看了三个用于处理情绪的沟通策略的录像咨询后参与了此次访谈。
许多参与者倾向于采用以情绪为导向的语言来处理患者的情绪；这种策略被认为会（积极）影响广泛的结果。然而，一些人更喜欢关注的沉默或根本不采用以情绪为导向的谈话。肿瘤医生和患者对于可能阻碍肿瘤医生处理情绪的因素有类似的看法。通常，肿瘤医生提到他们可以通过共情、探索性、承认和支持性的话语来改善对情绪的反应；为此，提出了各种（教育）策略。
患者和肿瘤医生普遍认为，以共情、探索性、承认和支持性的话语可以最佳地处理患者的情绪。然而，偏好存在差异，因此肿瘤医生需要根据个体患者来调整他们的沟通方式。
研究结果可为医学沟通培训提供信息，并鼓励肿瘤医生改善他们的沟通。定期录制咨询视频可能是提供反馈和反思的一种很有前途的方法，从而改善肿瘤医生对患者情绪的反应。
