PHYSICIAN-PATIENT COMMUNICATION IN CHRONIC DISEASES

PHYSICIAN-PATIENT COMMUNICATION IN CHRONIC DISEASES (Abstract): Chronic diseases represent an important public health issue, given that for many years they are the main cause of death worldwide and the specialists foresee they will soon become the main cause of disability as well. In this paper, the authors analyze the particularities of communication between physicians and patients with chronic diseases, the bidirectional nature of the physician-patient relationship, as well the barriers in establishing an effective relationship, together with the solutions in each case. Patients with chronic disease are particularly special, so that a very important element in the management of their disease is the communication they have with their physicians. Effective physician-patient communication is known to increase the adherence of the patient to the proposed treatment, to help the physician in establishing faster the correct diagnosis and in obtaining better therapeutic result, this leading to professional satisfaction. The effective relationship will have a positive impact over the medical system as well, as the admission in the hospital will be shorter, and, consequently, the costs will be lower. Anxiety, fear or unrealistic expectations of the patient, together with the large amount of work of the physician, his fear of litigation, of physical or verbal abuse from the patient are some of the most important barriers that can be managed to improve the quality of the medical act. The skills needed to communicate effectively with the patient must be learnt, as people do not born with them, and they can be acquired through postuniversitary training. Education of the patients is another issue that must be accomplished to obtain an effective physician-patient relationship, as they will become real partners in their own medical care.