Poor communication may impair optimal asthma care: a qualitative study
Article submitted by brasseye at 13:06, Fri 30 Mar 2007
PMID: 17158184
Background: Despite asthma being primarily managed in general practice and primary care, there is little research into the issues and tools which may impact on managing poorly controlled asthma in this setting.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that guidelines are seen as providing the ‘why’ of helping asthma patients' self-manage but not the ‘what to...’ or ‘how to...’ communicate. Poor professional–patient communication seems largely to explain the poor uptake of SMPs and guideline use in general practice and primary care. This limitation is more obvious to professionals when they are working with patients with poorly controlled asthma. There is a need to identify key communication skills for effective professional–patient partnership in adult asthma management, and to develop robust strategies for effectively training GPs and PNs in enhancing these skills.
Conclusion: Our findings indicate that guidelines are seen as providing the ‘why’ of helping asthma patients' self-manage but not the ‘what to...’ or ‘how to...’ communicate. Poor professional–patient communication seems largely to explain the poor uptake of SMPs and guideline use in general practice and primary care. This limitation is more obvious to professionals when they are working with patients with poorly controlled asthma. There is a need to identify key communication skills for effective professional–patient partnership in adult asthma management, and to develop robust strategies for effectively training GPs and PNs in enhancing these skills.
Conflict of Interests - none