While attitudes of 106 rehabilitation medicine patients interacting with doctors indicated that all wanted medical information, older patients gave more decision-making authority to doctors and more often brought companions who questioned doctors on their behalf. Found no age differences in patient consumerist communication behaviors. Age was…

A program of computer-assisted patient-management problems for teaching pediatrics is described. At each decision point, the computer provides choices or an opportunity for the student to enter a statement. The students review their performance, checking their choices against those of the instructors at each point. (Author/MLW)

This workshop, written in both English and Spanish, focuses on improving communication between physician and patient. In the workshop, the trainers will talk about "building bridges" between patient and doctor by understanding the doctor's role and his/her duty to the patient. According to the workshop, a person's doctor should…

Five guidelines to aid hearing impaired patients in interactions with health care providers are explained. These include being aware of your interpreter's limitations and "describe your medical problem as concisely and scientifically as possible." (Author/MC)

A program using patient instructors programmed with a history of hypertension, chronic pulmonary disease, or congestive heart failure to teach and evaluate pharmacy students' interviewing skills is described. Content areas included drug therapy, adverse reactions, drug interactions, etc. (Author/MSE)

Doctors responded to a questionnaire on truth telling. Findings suggested that physicians who are Orthodox Jews are less likely to inform patients of illness in contrast to doctors whose orientation is Conservative Judaism or nonreligious. Findings indicated that doctors judge patients individually on their physical and psychological state.…

The potential influence of sex-role stereotypes on women medical patients is examined. Evidence suggests physicians tend to attribute symptoms presented by women to psychogenic rather than organic causes, but that women nonetheless receive more medical treatment than men in the form of unnecessary surgery and psychotropic drugs. (Author)

Discusses ethical and practical questions that arise in physician/patient interactions as a result of the rising prevalence of chronic illness, the growth of medical technology, and the increased differentiation of medical specialization. Issues considered include patients' rights, medical malpractice, informed consent, and the patient self-help…

Women's gynecological health care needs are being partially met. Improvements that would increase patient involvement should be made. University and college health services can facilitate the planning, implementation, and evaluation of an effective gynecological care program. (CJ)

A meta-analysis of studies on preparation for medical procedures and pain examined the relative effects of sensory, procedural, and combined sensory-procedural preoperational information on coping outcomes. Results indicated that, in contrast to sensory information, procedural information provided no significant benefits over control group…

Examines the impact of patients' characteristics on patterns of nonverbal communication exhibited in physician-patient interactions at a family practice clinic. Finds some general patterns of nonverbal behavioral differences, consistency, and adaptation characterizing the entire data set, and that patients' characteristics influenced patterns of…

A comparison of patient (n=181) and tutor (n=31) evaluations of medical student (n=41) behavior in an internal medicine clerkship revealed difficulties with patient evaluation of students. The process is time consuming and introduces tension between students and patients, and patients are poor discriminators. (Author/MSE)

The effect of a precoronary angioplasty education and counseling program on knowledge and psychological status of patients and on knowledge and quality of life/coping status of their spouses was evaluated. Knowledge, psychological status, and coping status of patients (N=40), their spouses, and controls were assessed. Results show that education…

This study analyzes the transfer of specialized professional activities from health care workers to patients and their family members in the context of the shift to ambulatory care for acute and chronic illnesses requiring hospitalization. Based on 119 semidirective interviews with patients released from hospital after early discharge and/or with…

In this article, the author synthesizes 25 years of his research on the personal therapy of mental health professionals. The author summarizes the high prevalence of personal treatment, its use by seasoned practitioners, its personal and professional goals, its typically positive outcomes, and its lasting lessons concerning the practice of…