Patient participation, authority and understanding : A case study of communication patterns in a geriatric consultation

• Objectives: The objective is to examine communication patterns in the discourse that emerges between a female geriatric patient and a pharmacist in the context of using an inhaler. This analysis is done in order to understand the communicative components of consultation interaction that support the patient learning and demonstrating understanding of medical information.Methods: This article is a qualitative case study from a project that video recorded forty (N=40) clinical consultations. The actual case was selected as a representative example of the use of material and visual information resources during a clinical consultation between a patient and a pharmacist in a geriatric setting.Results: The patient’s understanding of the clinician’s medical advice did not result simply from repeating the clinician’s demonstration. Rather, the patient’s discussion and manipulation of the inhaler produced a communication pattern that increased the patient’s authority over topics and forms of expression.Conclusion: A combination of verbal, visual and tactile activities oriented to visual and material information resources, produced pattterns of interaction that enhanced the patient’s participation, authority and understanding of medical information.Practice implications: Many consultations can incorporate elder patients’ use of various visual and material information resources to improve their participation in treatment decisions. 

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Annan medicin och hälsovetenskap -- Gerontologi, medicinsk/hälsovetenskaplig inriktning (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Other Medical and Health Sciences -- Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

patient-clinician communication; clinical consultations; geriatric patients; patient participation; patient authority; patient-centered interaction

Sociologi

Sociology

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)