Physician Should Assess What The Patient Wants To Know
1. Physician should assess What the Patient Already Knows
Before providing information, the physician should find out what a patient already knows about his or her condition. Patients will come to the physician with preconceived notions about a particular condition, perhaps based on less than-authoritative sources. It is important, therefore, to determine what a patient already understands—or misunderstands—at the outset.
2. Physician should Assess What the Patient Wants to Know
Physicians should assess whether the patient desires, or will be able to comprehend, additional information. For the physician without advance knowledge of the patient, this need should arise so that the best can come out and the patient feels comfortable.
As when
obtaining informed consent, a first step in presenting information to a patient would be to describe the risks and benefits of the procedure and then to simply allow the patient to decide how much additional information he or she wants. However, as suggested elsewhere in this section, this step may require direct questions, strategic silences, and frequent verification that the information is actually being comprehended.
Before providing information, the physician should find out what a patient already knows about his or her condition. Patients will come to the physician with preconceived notions about a particular condition, perhaps based on less than-authoritative sources. It is important, therefore, to determine what a patient already understands—or misunderstands—at the outset.
2. Physician should Assess What the Patient Wants to Know
Physicians should assess whether the patient desires, or will be able to comprehend, additional information. For the physician without advance knowledge of the patient, this need should arise so that the best can come out and the patient feels comfortable.
As when
obtaining informed consent, a first step in presenting information to a patient would be to describe the risks and benefits of the procedure and then to simply allow the patient to decide how much additional information he or she wants. However, as suggested elsewhere in this section, this step may require direct questions, strategic silences, and frequent verification that the information is actually being comprehended.