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Patient-centred care depends on effective communication between patients and healthcare professionals. Four types of factors influence the success of communication: patient-related, clinician-related, relationship-related, and health system-related factors. The most important factors concern how well communication takes place within the relationship between a patient and a clinician. However, health system factors can hinder clinicians’ ability to communicate effectively, for example, when targets are set for the number of patients who must be seen within a given time period.

 

Five major types of interventions can support communication between patients and healthcare professionals. These include electronic technologies; tools that help patients and clinicians communicate, such as preparing patients to ask questions and using a clear structure for clinical consultations; processes that strengthen communication, including greeting patients, using teach-back, improving teamwork among healthcare professionals, and carrying out quality improvement projects focused on patient-professional communication; communication skills training for healthcare professionals; and measuring the effects of communication and acting on the findings.

 

Underpinning the effectiveness of the electronic technologies, the communication tools and processes and communication skills training is the fundamental issue of health literacy. Measurement of the effectiveness of communication enables healthcare professionals to introduce changes in practice to improve patients’ perceptions of communication, and ultimately, their outcomes.