Patient-centred consulting

Detection skills

  • Patients agenda
  • Patients ideas
  • Listening skills
  • Watching for non-verbal cues
  • Exploring feelings (doctor and patient)
  • Clarification

Management skills

  • Health beliefs (may be on more than one level)
  • Patient expectations
  • How does the problem affect the patient?
  • Sharing examination findings
  • Formulate a plan by negotiation with the patient
  • Explanation
  • Checking understanding

Avoid

  • being prescriptive
  • jargon words
  • valued judgements


Schema of patient-centred consulting

Patient-centredness

Ref: Patient-centred medicine - Stewart et al (Sage Publications)