Quality of care through patients’ eyes, 2007-2011

Duration: 2007 - 2011

Background
In research into doctor-patient communication (and also in medical and nursing training), the standards for 'adequate' communication are partly derived from professional insights and partly from (psychological) theory building. The patient perspective with regard to 'adequate' communication is hardly involved in research.

Aim
A second PhD project within the Spinoza program will be launched to investigate what patients consider to be adequate communication and whether this corresponds to insights from research and healthcare providers.

Method
The patient perspective will be discussed in two ways.
- Firstly, videotaped medical consultations will be presented to the affected patients after the consultation, with patients being asked to provide feedback on critical incidents in their own communication and in the communication of the physician. By simultaneously taking physiological measurements on the patient, we aim to establish a link between subjective experiences and objective physiological processes. Our colleagues in Oslo already have some experience with this otherwise unique method.
- The second line consists of submitting a series of these consultations to a panel of patients, as well as to a panel of fellow physicians, in which both panels are asked about the quality of care on a number of dimensions. By comparing these judgments with each other and with the judgment of the patient concerned, and also including the physiological responses as well as the concrete observed communication in the analyses, we hope to monitor and increase the clinical relevance of the program.

Result
This project will produce a dissertation and at least five articles in international peer-reviewed journals. In 2007, a first sub-project will be carried out in collaboration with the University of Verona and the University of Manchester, in which patient panels assess the quality of care in a number of medical consultations. The first results of this sub-project are expected at the end of 2007.