Towards a concept of Communicative Competence in Health: a qualitative study in medical residents

  • Rodolfo A. Cabrales Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Colombia
Keywords: health communication, communicative competence, medical competences, medical communication skill, medical education

Abstract

Despite the wealth of literature surrounding the importance of effective communication in the clinical practice, there is a dearth of consensus in the literature on what communicative competence in health (CCH) is, and the practices of meaningful health communication. Seventeen residents (17) were invited to share their thoughts on the concept of communicative competence in health and on difficulties they encounter during their clinical practice related with communication. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of CCH with emphasis on the implications in the medical curriculum, teaching, learning and assessment. Three focus group discussions were conducted with the clinical supervisor. The results were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using principles from grounded theory for qualitative data analysis. The 135 open codes and defined axial codes were discussed and a number of conceptual frameworks were utilized to disentangle the concept of CCH. The focus group themes related to the concept of communication in health, its importance and difficulties, the role of the physician and health personnel. The participants felt their own training did not prepare them to establish effective communication with patients and relatives. Some barriers include lack of time and lack of institutional priority given to communication issues. The techniques originating from grounded theory permitted to define a broader concept of CCH with the following three specific scopes: biological perspective (objective world), social (social world) and subjective world (expressive-aesthetic). This new concept of CCH is central to understanding how the health communication process occurs, where a myriad of individual (physician, patient, staff, relatives), organizational and societal interrelated factors influence health decisions and practice. These components need to be addressed by medicine schools, health institutions and other stakeholders in the planning and designing a new model of curricula.

Published online: 30 June 2015

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Author Biography

Rodolfo A. Cabrales, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Colombia

Faculty member at the Department of Clinical Sciences in Health Sciences Faculty at Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Colombia. Professor Rodolfo Cabrales has collaborated in Tuning Latin America Project. He has also been Head of Clinical Sciences Department at the Medicine Programme. He is a General Surgeon and he holds a PhD in Education Sciences. His doctoral research centred on the importance of communicative competence in medical practice. His current research interest focuses on communication skills at the pre and postgraduate level, methodological approaches to the communication competences teaching and medical education. Mail: rocabral@utp.edu.co

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Published
2015-06-30
How to Cite
Cabrales, Rodolfo A. 2015. “Towards a Concept of Communicative Competence in Health: A Qualitative Study in Medical Residents”. Tuning Journal for Higher Education 2 (2), 309-37. https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe-2(2)-2015pp309-337.