Doctor-Patient Relationship as Dancing a Dance

Abstract

The transcendence of the doctor-patient relationship is given by the confirmed fact of its influence on the results of health care. Several models of doctor-patient relationship can be described, but evidence of improved compliance, satisfaction and recall of physician information has been found in patient-centered consultations. Since these concepts of doctor-patient relationship and patient-centered consultation have multiple facets, they are complex to understand and teach. Using a metaphor is a tool that can be useful in these situations. We could say that the "good" doctor-patient relationship is a process where an "alliance" is created: a process in which the doctor adapts to the rhythm of the patient and little by little can help him move towards healthier scenarios; that is, detect "what dance the patient dances and like a good dancer, take a step back, another forward, dancing and pacing with the patient. But there is not a single type of "good" or "adequate" doctor-patient relationship; there is not "a single dance that the patient dances". If "the doctor has to dance with the patient", he has to know that there are many types of dance! The doctor will have to dance dances such as Cha-Cha (which has to be slow or very fast to dance), the Mambo (where the music is faster and the rhythm more complicated - the relationship with an urgent patient); the Merengue (which is danced like walking - informal doctor-patient relationship); el Pasodoble (that you have to dance with a haughty air, but not with rigidity -synchronizing assertiveness and empathy); The Salsa (where you have to learn the basic step separately - discontinuity of the doctor-patient relationship), among others.

Doctor-Patient Relationship and Multimorbidity: The More Extraordinary a Case Seems, the Easier it is to Solve it

“…The transcendence of the doctor-patient relationship is given by the confirmed fact of its influence on the results of health care. In fact, the quality of doctor-patient interaction and communication is a powerful indicator of the quality of medical care and plays a fundamental role in the medical care process [12][13][14].…”

“…We could say that the "good" doctor-patient relationship is a process where an "alliance" is created: A process in which the doctor adapts to the rhythm of the patient and little by little can help him move towards healthier scenarios; that is, detect what dance the patient dances and like a good dancer, take a step back, another forward, dancing and pacing with the patient. But there is not a single type of "good" or "adequate" doctor-patient relationship; there is not "a single dance that the patient dances" [12,25].…”

Psychology of doctor-patient relationship in general medicine

“…The coincidences and oppositions between both sets of data explain the diversity of individual cases and the different typologies of the doctor-patient relationship with their different ways of understanding and addressing health problems. This confusion and overlap of psychological and social factors explains the variations in the roles of the doctor and the patient [19,20].…”

“…The transcendence of the doctor-patient relationship is given by the confi rmed fact of its infl uence on the results of health care [20,25]. In fact, the quality of doctor-patient interaction and communication is a powerful indicator of the quality of medical care and plays a fundamental role in the medical care process [26].…”

“…Finally, it should be borne in mind that the GP, after living the experience of accompanying patients in their usual task of continued care, can confi rm their previous conception of chronic disease, but also discover the ways in which some patients and their families overcome their limitations. Thus, the doctor's understanding of the meaning of the disease for the patient and the family is a type of knowledge that changes the doctor-patient relationship [11,20,41].…”