Communication in healthcare: A review of some key issues

Abstract

Research into communication in health has so far had a low priority. What there is, has been targeted at immediate perceived problems; that is, attention has been focused on where there is prima facie evidence of a barrier to communication which might be attributable to, for example, language or culture. Clearly, most health professionals do not see themselves as being different from those they care for and serve. However, even when skin colour, language, religion and place of upbringing are identical, there will still remain differences of imagination, of class, and of experience. While the following paper draws primarily on the research literature of communication with minorities, it should be read as having a wider applicability. The model of ethnicity (which, fortunately, has replaced the more positivist, absolutist and normalising model of `race') can be applied to any community or group which shares close common interests.