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‘You have to treat the person, not the mouth only’: UK dentists’ perceptions of communication in patient consultations

Nowak, Marta Justyna; Buchanan, Heather; Asimakopoulou, Koula

Authors

Marta Justyna Nowak

Koula Asimakopoulou



Abstract

Effective communication between patients and health professionals is a key component of patient-centred care. Although there is a large body of literature focusing on doctor-patient communication, there has been limited research related to dentist-patient communication, especially presented from the dentists’ perspective. The aim of our study was to explore UK dentists’ perceptions of communication in their consultations, and the factors they perceive may influence this. We conducted semi-structured interviews with eight dentists in UK dental NHS practices. Thematic analysis revealed three themes (‘Treating the whole person’, ‘Barriers to patient-centred communication’ and ‘Mutuality of communication’), which reflected the dentists’ perceptions of their own communication during consultations, the patients’ interaction skills, attitudes (and characteristics that may affect them), and external factors, such as time constraints, that can influence dentist-patients’ encounters. These in-depth accounts are valuable, in that we see what dentists perceive is important, obstructive and facilitative. They report using a patient-centred approach in their everyday dental practice; however this is often difficult due to factors such as time constraints. Although they emphasized that the patient has an active role to play in the communication process, it may be the case that they also need to play their part in facilitating this.

Citation

Nowak, M. J., Buchanan, H., & Asimakopoulou, K. (2018). ‘You have to treat the person, not the mouth only’: UK dentists’ perceptions of communication in patient consultations. Psychology, Health and Medicine, 23(6), 752-761. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2018.1457167

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Mar 19, 2018
Online Publication Date Apr 2, 2018
Publication Date Apr 2, 2018
Deposit Date May 11, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Psychology, Health & Medicine
Print ISSN 1354-8506
Electronic ISSN 1465-3966
Publisher Routledge
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 23
Issue 6
Pages 752-761
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2018.1457167
Keywords Dentistry; Communication; Patient-centered; Dentists’ views
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/923589
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2018.1457167
Additional Information This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Psychology, Health & Medicine on 02.04.2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13548506.2018.1457167

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