Doctor-patient communication in the consulting room a study of two university health facilities in Ghana

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the experiences of doctors and patients during their encounter in the consulting rooms of the health facilities in the University of Cape Coast and University of Education, Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. A qualitative study was used to ascertain the actual lived communication experiences of doctors and patients in the consulting rooms. The study was anchored on Goffman’s facework and politeness theory. In all, a total of 23 patients and 6 doctors participated in the study. The major findings that emerged from this study revealed differences in the perspectives of doctors and patients on communication in the consulting rooms. Doctor-patient exchanges were characterized diversely as warm, pleasant, caring and welcoming. However, majority of the experiences of patients were also characterized by poor reception, cold attitude among others. Communication between doctors and patients was influenced by patients’ attitudes and interest in their health care, disclosure patterns, use of medical jargons, and number of patients. In the views of patients, there were mixed findings; while some were satisfied with their interactions with the doctors in the consulting rooms, others were also dissatisfied. The study concludes that the experiences of doctors and patients in the study were precipitated by different factors including attitudes of patients, workload, day and time, failure of patients to disclose information among others. Also the disposition of doctors, tone of voice, attitude towards them, use of medical terminologies, lack of attention, and failure to explain diagnosis and treatment. While the majority of the patients described their experiences as unsatisfactory the minority on the other hand, disclosed that they were satisfied with their encounter with the doctors in the consulting rooms of the two universities’ health facilities.