The doctor-patient relationship demands communication skills and knowledge that go beyond what we use in ordinary conversation, and the communication issues doctors regularly have to face cover a very wide spectrum.

What communication techniques can help the doctor establish good relations with patients?
How can specific methods of communication improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis?
How can we give patients medical information in a way they can understand and remember?
What causes patients not to cooperate with the doctor? How can cooperation be improved?
How can the suggestive effects of doctors' words be turned to therapeutic use?
What special kinds of communication are needed with sick children?
How can we communicate with injured people on the scene of an accident?
How can we break news of an incurable disease?
How should a doctor approach patients who attempt suicide?
How should a doctor talk about the psychological problems underlying patients' physical complaints?
What are the peculiarities of communication with drug-dependent patients?
How can we speak openly about sexual problems?

It is to these and many other questions that this book seeks and offers answers. Medical students and practising doctors will find in it a wealth of practical methods for making treatment more effective and difficult situations easier to handle. 

Content

• General communication theory
• Communication concepts and the role of communication in medicine
• General aspects of patient-doctor communication
• The doctor-patient consultation
• Communication issues in patient information
• Therapeutic patient education and joint decision-making
• The role of persuasive communication in medicine
• The significance of suggestion in doctor-patient communication
• Communication with patients in specific situations
• Communication with acute patients
• Communication with sick children
• Communication with older patients
• Communication with somatizing
• Communication with alcohol- and drug-dependent patients
• Communication about sexual problems
• Doctor-patient communication following attempted suicide
• Prevention and management of violence
• Breaking bad news
• Telemedicine