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Body Language, Attitude and Being A Good Listener In
Your Patient Sessions
posted 02/19/04
With the U.S. population as a whole aging, there's going to be a giant need for training in doctors and educators to learn about being a good listener.
In a program, the residents were videotaped examining the patients then met with an expert to review the videotapes. The expert checked to make sure the residents covered all of the medical issues listed on a review sheet, then talked to them about their demeanor.
What the expert noticed, was that one resident asked patients such things as, "You don't have depression, do you?" and "You're getting exercise, aren't you?"
She told the resident that he might elicit more and better information by saying, "Do you have depression?" and "Do you exercise?"
She pointed out to another resident that instead of looking at his patient, he tended to look down at the patient's chart.
One of the residents, said he learned, through the videotaped sessions, the importance of being an active listener.
"Sometimes, as doctors, we tend to hurry the process, especially when we know there are a lot of patients to see. We need to let the patient fully describe the complaint, and not jump the gun."
He said that by watching himself and his patient, he learned a lot about how he responds to a patient and how the patient responds to him. He said he noticed that patients tended to mirror his body language -- if he leaned forward, the patient leaned forward, and if he sat back in the chair, the patient sat back.
A third-year resident, said it is important to watch yourself and have someone point out your habits.
"If no one ever points out how you have a habit of looking down at the chart and not making eye contact, you might never notice," he said. "Interaction with the patient is such an integral part of the visit."
He said statistics show that 85 percent to 90 percent of the information needed to make a medical diagnosis comes from the history you illicit from a patient.
"If you're ignoring 90 percent of what's important about the visit ..." he said, lifting his eyebrows, raising his hands and letting his voice trail off. "You have to be reading their body language, too."
Source: Diabetes In Control.com.
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