A Study on Non-Verbal Communication Strategies Used by Doctors

A STUDY ON NON- VERBAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES USED BY DOCTORS IN DOCTOR PATIENT INTERACTION.
AREA OF INVESTIGATION
This study seeks to investigate the non-verbal communication strategies used by doctors in doctor-patient interactions during the initial consultation in a clinical setting. Non-verbal communication can be conceptualised as any form of communication that does not use the written or spoken word. (Birdwhistell: 1990, Melirabian: 1981).It is more than just body language since it includes, use of time, space, clothing, furniture, features of the environment (temperature, lighting) how we utter words (inflection, tone, volume) and it can occur in the absence of verbal communication through symbols and physical contexts. This study is in the broad area of interactive sociolinguistics which sees communication as the outcome of exchanges involving more than one active participant.
In Zimbabwe, many complaints by patients about how doctors communicate non-verbally have being raised. The problem which this proposed study seeks to address is: What non-verbal communication strategies are used by Zimbabwean doctors and their impact on patients? In trying to address this research problem, the study will show that although Zimbabwean doctors consciously and unconsciously send and receive non-verbal messages most of them are not fully aware of the ways they communicate. Frequently doctors verbal messages conflict with their non-verbal behaviour making patients to feel anxious and uncertain. The importance of studying doctors non-verbal communication behaviour derives from the importance of non-verbal communication strategies to negative and positive outcomes of a medical consultation such as, recovery or illness, patient satisfaction or dissatisfaction, patient understanding or anxiety, accurate diagnosis, non compliance to treatment regime, litigation and the enormous costs of health care and the impact of these costs on the national economy. The failure to

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