Balancing Good Medicine and Good Communication
Doctors’ Perspectives on Health Consultations and How They Accommodate to Their Patients
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21616743 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Susan C Baker (0000-0002-7593-0267, The University of Queensland), Bernadette M Watson (0000-0003-2419-7752, The University of Queensland, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 676-688 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-21 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1041-0236 • E-ISSN: 1532-7027 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10410236.2025.2526024 |
| PMID | 40624929 |
| OpenAlex | W4412110899 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 61 |
In this study, we explore communication between doctors and patients in health consultations from the doctor's perspective. Traditionally, health communication research has focused on patient perspectives and interpersonal issues in the health context. We argue that, although patient perspectives are important and there are interpersonal aspects, intergroup issues are more salient, and we need to also consider the doctor's views on the health consult. Ten doctors from Australia were interviewed and asked to describe their ideal health consultation, their communication behaviors during consultations, and the challenges they often experience during consultations. For reference and comparison, we asked 20 patients the same questions. Leximancer, a text-mining tool, mapped the key concepts for doctors and patients. Communication accommodation theory (CAT) was used to identify the communication strategies of each group. Analyses revealed that unlike patients, doctors report using several communication strategies in their consultations. More notably, accommodating to patients is not an easy task and doctors tend to employ a blended strategies approach when dealing with challenging patients. We discuss the implications of our findings for improving doctor-patient communication and for the advancement of CAT in the health context
Family medicine · Health communication · Medical education · MEDLINE · Communication · Interprofessional Education and Collaboration · Medicine · Primary Care and Health Outcomes · Psychology
Communication Accommodation Theory
Trust in the health care professional and health outcome
Evaluation of unsupervised semantic mapping of natural language with Leximancer concept mapping
How does communication heal? Pathways linking clinician–patient communication to health outcomes
Cultural differences in medical communication
Thematic Analysis
The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication
How Do Patients Define Satisfaction? The Role of Patient Perceptions of Their Participation and Health Provider Emotional Expression
Exploring Patients’ Trust from a New Perspective. A Text-Analysis Study
Emphasizing “Communication” in Health Communication
Defining and measuring patient‐centred care
Investigating strategies used by hospital pharmacists to effectively communicate with patients during medication counselling
Time as a Key Topic in Health Professionals’ Perceptions of Clinical Handovers
Investigating patients with an immigration background in Canada
Supporting thinking on sample sizes for thematic analyses
Conversation Analysis of Communication in Medical Care
Doctor–patient relationship mediates the effects of shared decision making on health-related quality of life among women living with breast cancer
Patient Participation in Medical Consultations
Using thematic analysis in psychology
Intergroup communication between hospital doctors
How Patients Perceive Their Doctors' Communication
Impact of Identity on Support for New Roles in Health Care
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |