The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of active listening skills on perpetrator response style in crisis negotiations. The extant literature boasts the utility of negotiations in crisis situations for law enforcement that came about in response to cataclysmic events such as the Attica Prison Riots (1971), Munich Massacre (1972), and the Williamsburg incident (1973). Various crisis negotiation models assert the importance of active listening skills in crisis negotiations; given the recent and voluminous media attention on police, this research aimed to provide further support for a cultural shift in police departments around the country to provide their officers with crisis negotiation training. These trainings allow officers to expand their arsenal of tools that decreases their need to rely on a tactical response when verbal de-escalation may be warranted to minimize risk to both officer and subject. The proposed study coded and analyzed audio recordings from the first 20 minutes of 12 simulated negotiations. The author proposed: (1) an increase in the proportion of active listening skills within the first phase of the negotiation would be associated with a decrease in the proportion of negative perpetrator response style in the second phase of the negotiation, (2) an increase in the proportion of active listening skills within the first half of the negotiation would be associated with an increase in the proportion of positive perpetrator response style in the second half of the negotiation, (3) an increase in the proportion of problem-solving utilized during the first phase of the negotiation would be associated with an increase in the proportion of negative perpetrator response style in remainder of the negotiation, and (4) an increase in the proportion of emotional labeling, paraphrasing and summarizing, and open-ended questions utilized during the first half of the negotiation would be associated with an increase in the proportion of positive perpetrator response style in the second half of the negotiation. While no significant results were identified via Pearson’s correlations, scatterplots were constructed for visual inspection of the data, which indicated potential support of hypotheses II and IV when considering the limitations of the study.

Communication between the patient and healthcare professional is pivotal in enabling effective self-care management to occur (Street et al., 2009) which in turn leads to improved health outcomes (Kravitz et al., 1993). However, there is little published data exploring the most effective tools for evaluating whether these communication skills occur and what particular attributes enhance the process (Goodchild, Skinner & Parkin, 2005; Heisler et al., 2003; Parkin & Skinner, 2003). This study aims to identify patient-centred communication skills occurring in consultations and to explore their link with a tool-recording agreement on reported decisions made. Quantitative analysis was conducted on 86 dietetic consultations across four outpatient diabetes services. Audio recordings from 20 of these were qualitatively analysed. Greater agreement on reported decisions correlated significantly with level of empathy demonstrated (t = .283, p = .0005). In consultations featuring agreement, dietitians expressed more empathy (p = .02), used more active listening skills, asked significantly more exploratory questions on self-care practices (U = 18.5, p = .007), provided significantly more supportive/collaborative information-giving exchanges (U = 11, p = .003) and were more likely to set an agreed agenda at the start of consultations. In contrast, consultations featuring disagreement had low levels of empathy, fewer active-listening skills and exploratory questions, significantly greater numbers of persuasive information-giving exchanges (U = 17, p = .007) and more recommending exchanges. Generally, agendas were not set. In conclusion, recording patient/healthcare professional agreement on reported decisions made during a consultation is a simple tool that can indicate the presence of patient-centred communication skills. Active-listening skills allow expressions of empathy that facilitate patient involvement and interactive dialogue. The measure of agreement should be used frequently as a marker of effective dietetic consultations and to provide further data on the relationship between patient-centred communication and implementation of behaviour change for improved health outcomes.