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Research on Health Communication
Health care and communication exist within a system. Most researchers and health care professionals view the communication within health care delivery as occurring within a system (Donohew & Berlin-Ray, 1990). That means you and your doctor are a part of a larger network of relationships, all influencing each other in subtle ways. For instance, have you ever thought about any of the following items as being related to your doctor-patient communication? Support staff? Administrators? Political issues? Technological and medical advances? Insurance? Mass media? One or perhaps two of these strike a chord with you. Yet all these factors are affected by each other and in turn, impact on your doctor-patient relationship and communication. Take for instance the following scenario. Can you figure out the competing influences on your communication with your family doctor?
You are watching TV the night before your doctor's appointment. A new allergy drug advertisement comes on. You’ve been sniffly and sneezy lately, and this looks like it may help. During your appointment, you mention this commercial you saw about the drug. Your doctor is surprised because you’ve never complained about allergies before. After a brief discussion you both agree to try a free sample of the medication for a few weeks. It works for you, so you get the real prescription from the doctor. The pills cost almost $1.50 each. That is almost $50.00 a month for allergy pills. The doctor never told you how expensive this medication was. The insurance your family has only covers generic allergy drugs - this one is new and so there is no generic. Now what do you do?
What factors influenced this situation? The drug commercial? The insurance company? The new allergy medication available? Probably all these and more. This scenario illustrates how all those factors influenced how you communicated with your doctor and how you feel about the relationship. Media, insurance, medical advances all impact on how you communicate within the health care system and with your doctor. Thus, it is important to see health communication as a system. Understanding these kinds of inter-relationships and their influences on you will help you be aware of the medical system and will help you choose appropriate communicative strategies for maneuvering within it.
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