THE REASONS

Questions can be powerful communication tools, with the potential to spark curiosity and motivate healthy change. Research (See the book “How Doctors Think”) reveals that doctors don’t ask the right questions, often jumping in with solutions as soon as they “think” they have enough information. Also, I have found that doctors tend to focus on superficial questions like, “When was your last exam?” These do not motivate change.

ACTION STEPS

These questions can lead to a deeper conversation:

• How is this affecting you? Try to understand the internal frustrations of the problem.
• Does this concern you? When we “assume” something is important to the patient because it’s important to us (their health care provider), it creates a disconnect, and the patient feels misunderstood.
• Can you relate? If you don’t want to ask a personal question, try sharing common complaints or concerns of other patients, and ask whether the patient experiences the same. This allows for deeper conversation without creating a defensive patient. OM