Review article
COMMUNICATION AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES
GORANKA PETRIČEK
; University of Zagreb, Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Zagreb Centar Health Center, Family Medicine Office, Siget 18a, Zagreb, Croatia
VENIJA CEROVEČKI
; University of Zagreb, Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Zagreb Centar Health Center, Milana Šufflaya 2, Zagreb, Croatia
ZLATA OŽVAČIĆ ADŽIĆ
; University of Zagreb, Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Zagreb Centar Health Center, Family Medicine Office, Siget 18a, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Although survey results indicate clear connection between the physician-patient communication and health outcomes, mechanisms
of their action are still insuffi ciently clear. The aim was to investigate the specifi city of communication with patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases and the impact of good communication on measurable outcomes. We performed PubMed (Medline) search using the following key words: communication, health outcomes, and gastrointestinal diseases. Seven pathways through which communication can lead to better health include increased access to care, greater patient knowledge and shared understanding, higher quality medical decisions, enhanced therapeutic alliances, increased social support, patient agency and empowerment, and better management of emotions. Although these pathways were explored with respect to cancer care, they are certainly applicable to other health conditions as well, including the care of patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases. Although proposing a number of pathways through which communication can lead to improved health, it should be emphasized that the relative importance of a particular pathway will depend on the outcome of interest, the health condition, where the patient is in the illness trajectory, and the patient’s life circumstances. Besides, research increasingly points to the importance of placebo effect, and it is recommended that health professionals encourage placebo effect by applying precisely targeted communication skills, as the unquestionable and successful part of many treatments. It is important that the clinician knows the possible positive and negative effects of communication on health outcomes, and in daily work consciously maximizes therapeutic effects of communication, reaching its proximal (understanding, satisfaction, clinician-patient agreement, trust, feeling known, rapport, motivation) and intermediate outcomes (access to care, quality medical decision, commitment to treatment, trust in the system, social support, self-care skills, emotional management) to improve the health of patients he cares for.
Keywords
communication; health outcomes; gastrointestinal diseases
Hrčak ID:
154160
URI
Publication date:
12.3.2016.
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