Patient education and counseling
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Review
Rituals of verification: the role of simulation in developing and evaluating empathic communication.
The use of simulation and standardized patients in medical education is firmly established. In this "point-counterpoint" format we debate not their important function but the extent to which they are used to establish "evidence" for trainees' empathic communication skills beyond their surface manifestations. We also question such issues as the power dynamics implicit in simulation when patients are not really worried or dependent but rather students who are under the evaluative surveillance gaze, often relying on formulaic and superficial behaviors associated with good communication. We offer educative experiences in narrative domains as opportunities to develop the habits of thinking and authentic feeling often absent in evaluative-based simulations.
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Comparative Study
Physician-patient and pharmacist-patient communication: geriatrics' perceptions and opinions.
Earlier research examined the perceptions of the pharmacist-patient relationship quality using data from a systematic random sample of non-institutionalized elderly in the United States. The purposes of this study were to determine: (1) how the findings of this study, conducted in a culturally diverse urban area in Queens, New York, compare with the earlier study; (2) how community-dwelling elderly patients in a metropolitan area perceive their relationship with the pharmacist compared to the physician; and (3) the extent to which their perceived relationship quality predicts medication-related knowledge, medication-related outcomes, and self-efficacy for medication management. ⋯ Further research is needed to examine ways to improve pharmacist-patient interactions and, therefore, patients' perceptions of pharmacists.
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To evaluate the effect of a media campaign on popular beliefs about LBP, and eventual changes in sick leave, imaging examinations, and surgery. ⋯ A media campaign on LBP should not be limited to small areas and low-budget. A much larger investment is needed for a media campaign to have sufficient impact on public's beliefs on LBP to lead to altered sickness behaviour.