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Chapter 3 - Unit1 - Interviewskills
Chapter 3 - Unit1 - Interviewskills
Patient-centered Interviewing
Skilled interviewing is both patient-centered and clinician-centered
o Evidence suggest that the patient is the best serv ed by
integrating these interviewing styles, leading to a more complete
picture pf the pt’s illness and allowing clinicians to more fully
convey the caring attributes of respect, empathy, humility and
sensitivity.
Primary goals of the pt interview are to listen and to improve the well-
being of the pt through a trusting and supportive relationship.
High quality pt-clinician communication has also been shown to improve
pt outcomes, decrease symptoms, improve functional status, reduce
litigation, and decrease errors.
Following the patient’s lead to understand their thoughts, ideas,
concerns, and requests, without adding additional information from the
clinician’s perspective
Encourages patients to express what is most important to them
Patient-centered interviewing along with establishing patient rapport and
trust is the foundation for a therapeutic alliance
Interview Process
Different but complementary to the health history format
o Health History format: is a structured framework for organizing pt
information in a written or verbal form. This format focuses your
attention on the specific kinds of information you need to obtain,
facilitates clinical reasoning, and standardizes communication to
other health care providers involved in the patient’s care.
Limit “yes-no” questions to the Review of symptoms.
Generates the patient’s story in a fluid manner, requires empathy
(empathic responses, validation), effective communication (active
listening, guided questioning, summarization), and the relational skills
(nonverbal affirmation, reassurance, partnering) to respond to patient
cues, feelings, and concerns
Skilled Interviewing Techniques
Active Listening
o Paying attention to what the patient is saying, being aware of the
patient’s emotional state, and using verbal and nonverbal skills to
encourage the speaker to expand on concerns
o It takes practice; it is easy to begin thinking about next questions
or possible diagnoses
o Patient’s Perspective on Illness
What the patient thinks may be going on
The greatest concern or problem
Expectations for the visit
Empathetic Responses
o Vital to building patient rapport
o Empathy is the capacity of the clinician to identify with the patient
and feel the patient’s pain as their own
o You must recognize the patient’s feelings and then address their
meaning
“How do you feel about that”
o Responses must convey that you feel what the patient is feeling
and wish to incorporate them into the visit
“It sounds like it has been hard for you”
o Nonverbal
Placing your hand on the patient’s hand or arm, offering
tissues
Guided Questioning
o Methods to gain more information from a patient without
interfering with the flow of their story
o The goal of a patient-centered interview is to facilitate full
communication, in the patient’s own words, and without
interruption.
o Too many closed ended or yes-no questions can make the patient
feel more passive, which can shut down the flow of patient ideas
and lead to loss of detail.