Interpersonal Communication Strategies in Doctor-Patient Interactions: A Discourse Analysis Study

Abstract

Doctor – patient interaction is an interpersonal process and essential to relationship – centered care. Doctor-patient communication is the building block upon which the doctor’s relationship with the patient is made up. The medical interview, during which doctor-patient communication occurs, is a tool by which the doctor gets to know the patient so that he/ she feels like a person, not just an embodiment of a medical problem. Taking into consideration the patient’s problems, understanding his complaints and the expectations that he/ she has of the doctor’s mutual satisfaction gives the self-confidence in revealing his/ her complaint. Thus, both verbal and nonverbal processes, through which a doctor obtains and shares information with a patient, all patient-doctor interactions are influenced by the expectations of both parties, because this is always a two-way process, this is called doctor-patient communication. This study investigates the interaction between doctors and patients in consultation rooms by using the qualitative descriptive method as a research type to show and describe how verbal and non-verbal communication function as integrated parties of interpersonal communication within the interaction between doctors and patients in the healthcare settin