Thesis (Ph.D.)--RAND Graduate School, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

The primary objective of this study was to analyze dyadic verbal interactions and to determine whether they were associated with the roles of the participants. These "interactions occurred in the chronic paediatric health care delivery system between parents of handicapped children and physicians and between those same parents and other members of the health team. Additional objectives of this research included testing of the reliability of the Sequential Analysis of Verbal Interaction (SAVI) instrument and its utility in the health care system. Clinical data were obtained during regularly scheduled appointments in the form of audio-taped interviews using 37 parent-professional 'and 37 parent-paraprofessional dyads. A six-minute sample was selected from each interview tape, coded at three-second intervals, transcribed into the class of communication behaviour and analyzed. Subsequent to data collection, reliability and utility of the SAVI instrument were examined and determined to be appropriate for this study. The major finding of the study was that parents of handicapped children used different verbal messages and behaviours than professionals and paraprofessionals. The communication pattern for all three groups, using Agazarian's (1968) model was cross-purpose. Under a proposed model, adapted from Agazarian's, the parents' pattern of communication was considered to approximate the problem-solving pattern more closely. The conclusion drawn from this exploratory study was that very little of a personal nature was occurring in interpersonal communication, which in turn hindered the development of a problem-solving pattern of communication. An important direction for further research would be the testing of the predominance of the cross-purpose pattern of communication using a larger and more homogenous sample of professionals and paraprofessionals. / Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies / Graduate

Patients with the same underlying concern express this with different styles that predict preference for physician responses. One hundred primary care patients imagined having chest pain and selected from a videotape, the most likely response which they would tell their physician: (1) symptoms only - no disclosure of underlying concern; (2) symptoms and a "Clue" to an underlying concern; or (3) symptom with an explicit concern. Depending on their preferred expression, they were presented videotaped doctors responses to that disclosure and ranked their response preferences. Patients stating they would present with symptoms only (17%) preferred a biomedical question response; patients selecting a symptom and a clue (43%) were equally comfortable with a biomedical question, facilitation or, an exploration of the clue. Of patients presenting with an explicit concern (40%), most wanted the physician to acknowledge and explore the origins of that concern.

The overall aim of this thesis was to cast light on the new phenomenon of Internet-based medical consultation. This was approached by studies of the use of an Ask the doctor service, by a web survey to the users who sent enquiries to the service, and by a questionnaire to the answering physicians of their respective expericence of the service. Written communication is becoming increasingly important, not only for communication between individuals outwith health care (e.g. by email, SMS and instant messaging), but also between doctors and patients. There is an ongoing shift in the way individuals look for medical information with an increasing number going first to the Internet berfore talking with their physicians. Also, there is an increasing interest from patients in accessing Internet-based services, including text-based consultations with doctors. These consultations can be part of the regular communication between a patient and his/her doctor or be carried out without any previous relationship. Our studies of the latter consultation type emanate from the free of charge Ask the doctor service at a Swedish public health web portal, Infomedica, financed by health authorities. At the Ask the doctor service, the communication has been merely text-based and the individual using the consultation service (here called the enquirer) might have been anonymous. We followed the development of the first four years use of the service (38 217 enquiries), finding that the typical enquirer was a woman aged 21-60 years. Three quarters of the enquirers were women, thus exceeding the gender difference seen in regular health care. The service was used all times of the day and night, seven days a week, and it was most used in densely populated areas as defined from postal codes. The enquiries submitted to the service included a broad variety of medical issues. Most enquirers asked on their own behalf. Almost half of the enquiries concerned a matter not previously evaluated by a medical professional. Only a few were frequent enquirers. The service was used e.g. for a primary evaluation of a medical problem, for getting more information on a medical issue under treatment, and for a second opinion. The most common reasons for turning to a doctor on the Internet were convenience, wish for anonymity and that doctors were experinced too busy. In free text a considerable number of participants expressed discontent and communication problems with a previous doctor as a reason to turn to the Ask the doctor service. Many participants expressed a view of the service as a complement to regular health care, and the majority were satisfied with the answer. Nearly half of the participants in the web survey stated that they received sufficient information in their answer and that they would not pursue their question further. The family physicians answering the enquiries at the Ask the doctor service were stimulated and challenged by the new task, in spite of the limitations caused by the lack of personal meetings and physical examinations. The opportunity to reflect on the answer before replying was appreciated, and the task was regarded as having a high educational value for themselves. The Internet not only allows easy access to medical information but also to medical consultation – to date mostly text-based. It is probable that in the near future an increasing number of doctors will adopt text-based communication via the Internet to be a natural part of their communication with patients. Therefore, training in text-based communication and carrying out Internet consultations should be integrated into the curricula of medical schools and of continuous professional development. Ethical guidelines should be established.

Wu Yan Fei. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 161-189). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter 1. --- BACKGROUND --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Hong Kong health care system --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Medication compliance and treatment responses --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Definition of compliance --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3.1 --- Compliance --- p.5 / Chapter 1.3.2 --- Adherence --- p.6 / Chapter 1.3.3 --- Concordance --- p.7 / Chapter 1.4 --- Definitions of satisfactory compliance --- p.9 / Chapter 1.5 --- Importance of compliance --- p.10 / Chapter 1.6 --- Non-compliance as a behavioral disease --- p.12 / Chapter 1.6.1 --- Disease manifestation (Patterns of non-compliance) --- p.12 / Chapter 1.6.2 --- Prevalence/Epidemiology (Rate of non-compliance) --- p.14 / Chapter 1.6.3 --- Diagnosis (Detecting non-compliance) --- p.15 / Chapter 1.6.3.1 --- Direct methods --- p.16 / Chapter 1.6.3.1.1 --- Use of biological fluids --- p.17 / Chapter 1.6.3.1.2 --- Biological surrogate (Drug) markers --- p.18 / Chapter 1.6.3.1.3 --- Pharmacological indicators --- p.20 / Chapter 1.6.3.2 --- Indirect methods --- p.22 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.1 --- Self-report / Direct questioning --- p.24 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.2 --- Pill counts --- p.25 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.3 --- Diaries --- p.27 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.4 --- Electronic monitoring --- p.27 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.5 --- Physician estimates --- p.31 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.6 --- Outcome measurement and clinical judgment --- p.32 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.7 --- Presence of side effects --- p.33 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.8 --- Keeping of appointments --- p.34 / Chapter 1.6.3.2.9 --- Prescription refill rates --- p.34 / Chapter 1.6.3.3 --- Direct observation --- p.35 / Chapter 1.6.3.4 --- The ideal detection method --- p.36 / Chapter 1.6.4 --- Risk factors (Related factors of non-compliance) --- p.37 / Chapter 1 .6.4.1 --- Patient related factors --- p.37 / Chapter 1.6.4.1.1 --- Understanding and comprehension --- p.37 / Chapter 1.6.4.1.2 --- Health beliefs --- p.39 / Chapter 1.6.4.1.3 --- Socio-demographic factors --- p.44 / Chapter 1.6.4.1.4 --- Forgetfulness --- p.45 / Chapter 1.6.4.2 --- Illness --- p.46 / Chapter 1.6.4.3 --- Therapeutic regimen --- p.46 / Chapter 1 .6.4.4 --- Patient-practitioner relationship --- p.48 / Chapter 1.6.5 --- Treatment (Interventions) --- p.50 / Chapter 1.6.5.1 --- Education --- p.51 / Chapter 1.6.5.2 --- Dosing regimen planning --- p.55 / Chapter 1.6.5.3 --- Clinic scheduling --- p.57 / Chapter 1.6.5.4 --- Communication --- p.57 / Chapter 1.6.6 --- Intelligent non-compliance --- p.60 / Chapter 1.6.7 --- Overview of problems with compliance studies --- p.63 / Chapter 1.6.7.1 --- Complex and not effective --- p.64 / Chapter 1.6.7.2 --- Lack theoretical framework --- p.64 / Chapter 1.6.7.3 --- Fragmented studies --- p.65 / Chapter 1.6.7.4 --- Lack high quality compliance study --- p.66 / Chapter 1.6.7.5 --- Without long term follow up --- p.67 / Chapter 1.6.7.6 --- Correlation between compliance and desired therapeutic outcomes --- p.68 / Chapter 2 --- HYPOTHESIS AND OBJECTIVES --- p.71 / Chapter 3 --- METHODS --- p.75 / Chapter 3.1 --- Study design --- p.76 / Chapter 3.2 --- Outcome measures --- p.80 / Chapter 3.3 --- Statistical analysis --- p.81 / Chapter 3.4 --- Power analysis --- p.82 / Chapter 4. --- RESULTS --- p.85 / Chapter 4.1 --- Patient demographics --- p.85 / Chapter 4.2 --- Clinic attended and drug usage --- p.85 / Chapter 4.3 --- Non-compliant rates and its patterns --- p.86 / Chapter 4.4 --- Reasons for non-compliance --- p.86 / Chapter 4.5 --- Relationship between drug class and medication compliance --- p.86 / Chapter 4.6 --- Relationship between dosage frequency and medication compliance --- p.87 / Chapter 4.7 --- Clinical characteristics of compliant and non-compliant patients --- p.87 / Chapter 4.8 --- Comparison of non-compliant patients identified at baseline during the second reassessment --- p.88 / Chapter 4.9 --- Effects of pharmacist's telephone intervention on tertiary outcomes --- p.88 / Chapter 4.9.1 --- Medication compliance --- p.88 / Chapter 4.9.2 --- Blood pressure --- p.89 / Chapter 4.10 --- Effects of pharmacist's telephone intervention on secondary outcomes --- p.90 / Chapter 4.11 --- Primary end-points of compliant versus non-compliant patients --- p.91 / Chapter 4.12 --- Best predictors of mortality rate for the studied population --- p.92 / Chapter 4.13 --- Effects of pharmacist's telephone intervention on primary outcomes --- p.92 / Chapter 4.14 --- Clinical characteristics of non-compliant patients with / without second follow up --- p.93 / Chapter 4.15 --- Clinical outcomes of defaulted patients at the second visit --- p.93 / Chapter 5. --- DISCUSSION --- p.126 / Chapter 5.1 --- Study design --- p.126 / Chapter 5.2 --- Compliance assessment method --- p.126 / Chapter 5.3 --- Patient demographics and drug prescribing pattern --- p.128 / Chapter 5.4 --- Extent and pattern of non-compliance --- p.128 / Chapter 5.5 --- Reasons for non-compliance --- p.129 / Chapter 5.5.1 --- Lack of knowledge --- p.129 / Chapter 5.5.1.1 --- Dosing instructions --- p.129 / Chapter 5.5.1.2 --- Drug identification --- p.130 / Chapter 5.5.1.3 --- Storage --- p.131 / Chapter 5.5.2 --- Forgetfulness --- p.131 / Chapter 5.5.3 --- Problems with health beliefs --- p.132 / Chapter 5.5.3.1 --- Common myths or misconceptions --- p.132 / Chapter 5.5.4 --- Presence of side effects --- p.133 / Chapter 5.6 --- Predictability of non-compliance --- p.134 / Chapter 5.6.1 --- Socio-demographics --- p.134 / Chapter 5.6.2 --- Polypharmacy --- p.135 / Chapter 5.6.3 --- Dosing frequency --- p.137 / Chapter 5.6.3.1 --- "Little difference between daily, twice daily and thrice daily dosing." --- p.137 / Chapter 5.6.3.2 --- Importance of drug property in determining the impact of usual dosages --- p.138 / Chapter 5.6.3.3 --- The impact of missed dosage on clinical condition --- p.139 / Chapter 5.6.3.4 --- Practical issues regarding dosing frequency --- p.140 / Chapter 5.6.4 --- Drug Profiles --- p.141 / Chapter 5.7 --- Outcomes measure --- p.142 / Chapter 5.8 --- The role of pharmacist in chronic care --- p.147 / Chapter 5.9 --- The role of physician in chronic care --- p.155 / Chapter 5.10 --- Possible sources of bias and limitations --- p.156 / Chapter 5.11 --- Further studies --- p.156 / Chapter 5.12 --- Concluding remarks --- p.159 / Chapter 6. --- REFERENCES --- p.161 / Chapter 7. --- APPENDICES --- p.190

A atenção primária à saúde constitui hoje área prioritária nas políticas de saúde em diversas partes do mundo, constituindo, no Brasil, elemento estratégico para a organização dos sistemas de atenção. A complexidade e especificidade das demandas e características do cuidado em saúde na atenção primária exige, contudo, renovados esforços conceituais e práticos no sentido da construção de processos comunicacionais e interativos entre médicos e pacientes que caminhem para além da anamnese tradicional, pautada por uma racionalidade estritamente biomédica Objetivo: identificar e compreender fundamentos e contribuições de quatro influentes correntes teóricas que, a partir da década de 90, vêm problematizando as interações e a comunicação entre médicos e pacientes na atenção primária à saúde: Medicina Centrada no Paciente, Medicina Baseada em Narrativa, Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) e Integralidade da Atenção à Saúde. Metodologia: Levantamento e estudo interpretativo, apoiado na filosofia hermenêutica de Hans-Georg Gadamer e Paul Ricoeur, de produção bibliográfica indexada nas bases MEDLINE e LILACS de 1990 a 1999. Resultados: A Medicina Centrada no Paciente orienta-se, fundamentalmente, para a identificação de domínios específicos que devem ser integrados à anamnese médica tradicional para ampliar seu escopo prático, utiliza metodologia de pesquisa quantitativa como modo predominante de fundamentação de suas proposições e propõe inúmeras metodologias ativas de ensino-aprendizado. A Medicina Baseada em Narrativa detém-se no como construir narrativas ao longo do diálogo entre médicos e pacientes, utiliza a metodologia qualitativa como principal recurso de pesquisa e fundamentação de suas proposições e desenvolve diversas estratégias de ensino-aprendizado com utilização de textos literários e narrativos. A Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) utiliza como referencial teórico o modelo biopsicossocial de abordagem do processo saúde-doença e busca desenvolver propostas de assistência integral à saúde de grupos populacionais prioritários do ponto de vista médico-sanitário. A integralidade privilegia a transformação da organização dos serviços e dos processos de trabalho em saúde como primeira instância para a qualificação dos processos comunicacionais entre médicos e pacientes. Não foram identificados nas tradições da Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) e da Integralidade a discussão de estratégias de ensino-aprendizado de abordagens comunicacionais, o que é bastante enfatizado nas outras duas. Conclusão: As quatro tradições estudadas apresentam inovações e pressupostos teórico-práticos que se complementam. Mostra-se imprescindível estabelecer uma fusão de horizontes entre tais proposições de forma a qualificar os diálogos e processos de comunicação-interação estabelecidos entre médicos e pacientes no nível da atenção primária à saúde / The primary health care is currently a priority area in health policies in different parts of the world, being a strategic element to the care systems organization in Brazil. Nevertheless, the complexity and the specificity of demands and characteristics of healthcare in primary health care require conceptual and practical renewed efforts with respect to the construction of interactive and communicational processes between doctors and patients that go beyond the traditional anamnesis, regulated by a rationality strictly biomedics. Objective: identify and understand fundaments and contributions of four theoretical perspectives of relevance which have been problematizing, since the 90s, the interactions and the communication between doctors and patients in primary health care: Patient-Centered Medicine, Narrative Based Medicine, Comprehensive Care and Integrality in Healthcare. Methodology: Survey and interpretive study based on Hans-Georg Gadamers and Paul Ricoeurs philosophical hermeneutics of indexed bibliography in MEDLINE and LILACS from 1990 to 1999. Results: Patient-Centered Medicine is fundamentally guided towards the identification of specific domains that must be integrated with traditional medical anamnesis in order to broaden its practical scope. It uses quantitative research methodology as a predominant way of laying the foundations of its propositions, recommending various active teaching-learning methodologies. The Narrative Based Medicine withholds on \"how\" to construct narratives throughout the dialogue between doctors and patients. It applies a qualitative methodology as the major resource of research and of fundamenting its propositions, besides developing various teaching-learning strategies using literary and narrative texts. The Comprehensive Care uses the biopsychosocial model of addressing the health-disease process as a theoretical approach and aims at developing proposals for Integrality in Healthcare for population groups who have priority in terms of medical health care. Comprehensiveness privileges the transformation of services organization and of work processes in health as the first instance to the quality of communication processes between doctors and patients. In the traditions of Comprehensive Care and of Integrality in Healthcare, the discussion of teaching-learning strategies of communication approaches, which is quite emphasized in the other two approaches, was not identified. Conclusion: The four theoretical perspectives studied present innovations and theoretical-practical propositions that complement themselves. It is imperative to establish a \"fusion of horizons\" between such propositions for qualifying the dialogue and the communication-interaction processes established between doctors and patients at the primary health care level

A atenção primária à saúde constitui hoje área prioritária nas políticas de saúde em diversas partes do mundo, constituindo, no Brasil, elemento estratégico para a organização dos sistemas de atenção. A complexidade e especificidade das demandas e características do cuidado em saúde na atenção primária exige, contudo, renovados esforços conceituais e práticos no sentido da construção de processos comunicacionais e interativos entre médicos e pacientes que caminhem para além da anamnese tradicional, pautada por uma racionalidade estritamente biomédica Objetivo: identificar e compreender fundamentos e contribuições de quatro influentes correntes teóricas que, a partir da década de 90, vêm problematizando as interações e a comunicação entre médicos e pacientes na atenção primária à saúde: Medicina Centrada no Paciente, Medicina Baseada em Narrativa, Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) e Integralidade da Atenção à Saúde. Metodologia: Levantamento e estudo interpretativo, apoiado na filosofia hermenêutica de Hans-Georg Gadamer e Paul Ricoeur, de produção bibliográfica indexada nas bases MEDLINE e LILACS de 1990 a 1999. Resultados: A Medicina Centrada no Paciente orienta-se, fundamentalmente, para a identificação de domínios específicos que devem ser integrados à anamnese médica tradicional para ampliar seu escopo prático, utiliza metodologia de pesquisa quantitativa como modo predominante de fundamentação de suas proposições e propõe inúmeras metodologias ativas de ensino-aprendizado. A Medicina Baseada em Narrativa detém-se no como construir narrativas ao longo do diálogo entre médicos e pacientes, utiliza a metodologia qualitativa como principal recurso de pesquisa e fundamentação de suas proposições e desenvolve diversas estratégias de ensino-aprendizado com utilização de textos literários e narrativos. A Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) utiliza como referencial teórico o modelo biopsicossocial de abordagem do processo saúde-doença e busca desenvolver propostas de assistência integral à saúde de grupos populacionais prioritários do ponto de vista médico-sanitário. A integralidade privilegia a transformação da organização dos serviços e dos processos de trabalho em saúde como primeira instância para a qualificação dos processos comunicacionais entre médicos e pacientes. Não foram identificados nas tradições da Abordagem Integral (Comprehensive Care) e da Integralidade a discussão de estratégias de ensino-aprendizado de abordagens comunicacionais, o que é bastante enfatizado nas outras duas. Conclusão: As quatro tradições estudadas apresentam inovações e pressupostos teórico-práticos que se complementam. Mostra-se imprescindível estabelecer uma fusão de horizontes entre tais proposições de forma a qualificar os diálogos e processos de comunicação-interação estabelecidos entre médicos e pacientes no nível da atenção primária à saúde / The primary health care is currently a priority area in health policies in different parts of the world, being a strategic element to the care systems organization in Brazil. Nevertheless, the complexity and the specificity of demands and characteristics of healthcare in primary health care require conceptual and practical renewed efforts with respect to the construction of interactive and communicational processes between doctors and patients that go beyond the traditional anamnesis, regulated by a rationality strictly biomedics. Objective: identify and understand fundaments and contributions of four theoretical perspectives of relevance which have been problematizing, since the 90s, the interactions and the communication between doctors and patients in primary health care: Patient-Centered Medicine, Narrative Based Medicine, Comprehensive Care and Integrality in Healthcare. Methodology: Survey and interpretive study based on Hans-Georg Gadamers and Paul Ricoeurs philosophical hermeneutics of indexed bibliography in MEDLINE and LILACS from 1990 to 1999. Results: Patient-Centered Medicine is fundamentally guided towards the identification of specific domains that must be integrated with traditional medical anamnesis in order to broaden its practical scope. It uses quantitative research methodology as a predominant way of laying the foundations of its propositions, recommending various active teaching-learning methodologies. The Narrative Based Medicine withholds on \"how\" to construct narratives throughout the dialogue between doctors and patients. It applies a qualitative methodology as the major resource of research and of fundamenting its propositions, besides developing various teaching-learning strategies using literary and narrative texts. The Comprehensive Care uses the biopsychosocial model of addressing the health-disease process as a theoretical approach and aims at developing proposals for Integrality in Healthcare for population groups who have priority in terms of medical health care. Comprehensiveness privileges the transformation of services organization and of work processes in health as the first instance to the quality of communication processes between doctors and patients. In the traditions of Comprehensive Care and of Integrality in Healthcare, the discussion of teaching-learning strategies of communication approaches, which is quite emphasized in the other two approaches, was not identified. Conclusion: The four theoretical perspectives studied present innovations and theoretical-practical propositions that complement themselves. It is imperative to establish a \"fusion of horizons\" between such propositions for qualifying the dialogue and the communication-interaction processes established between doctors and patients at the primary health care level

One of the most critical elements in empowering the patient, and ensuring concordance, is communication of the possible benefits and harms of different actions in health care. Risk assessment is a complex task due both to the different interpretations of the concept of risk, and the common lack of hard facts. Hormone, or hormone replacement, therapy (HT) is used by many women in, and after, the menopause. The benefits and possible harms associated with short and long term treatment with HT have been extensively discussed the last decade and the use of HT has decreased dramatically internationally the last few years. The aims of this thesis were to study the interaction between patient and physician when discussing risks and benefits of different treatment alternatives, and to suggest strategies to improve risk communication in clinical practice. The studies have focused on how risks and benefits with HT were communicated between women and physicians during firsttime consultations in 1999- 2000 on this subject (20 women, 5 gynaecologists), and through questionnaires how attitudes towards HT have changed between 1999 (n=1,760) and 2003 (n=1,733) among women entering the menopause (53-54 years). Through a qualitative analysis of the risk communication in the consultations a system was constructed to classify how risk is communicated in relation to benefits. This was used to assess and present differences in risk communication in the consultations. Different rhetorical strategies by the physicians were identified and the dominating tendency was a move from the woman’s current problems to the long-term effects of HT. The questionnaires showed a marked difference in attitudes towards HT between the years. In 2003 women perceived HT to be associated with higher risk and less benefits than in 1999. This correlated to a drastic reduction in the use of HT over the same period. Media was the most frequent source of information about HT during the last twelve months before the questionnaire in 2003. Possible explanations for the different attitudes towards HT between women entering the menopause and gynaecologist; how this difference might have influenced the results; and how they may have implications for future communication strategies are discussed. This thesis illustrates the importance of a deeper understanding in health care of the concept of risk in order to achieve an adequate communication of risk. This is important both in consultations and in campaigns to educate and inform the public. / Reprinted figure 1 on page 32 with permission from Science Ref # 05-17260-Revised. Copyright 2006 AAAS.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2007. / Title from PDF of title page. Document formatted into pages; contains 180 pages. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2006.