Problems with Patients: Managing Complicated Transactions

by Kingsley Norton , Samuel Peter Smith , Foreword by Paul Freeling

• ISBN13: 9780521436281
• ISBN10: 0521436281
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-08-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

When patient meets doctor, as well as engaging in a transaction with a clinical purpose, they react to one another as people. Their personalities and ability to form relationships in general also affect the professional interaction. As with other relationships, things can go wrong. The outcome of the consultation may not be what either individual hoped for or intended. Norton and Smith explore the factors that can cause problems in the doctor-patient relationship. Within a model studied from three theoretical perspectives, the authors emphasize the often unconscious personal aspects of the doctor-patient interaction, and offer concrete advice to help doctors manage their dealings with patients. This fresh look at an important but often neglected aspect of health care will be vital reading for all doctors, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, social workers, medical students, health care administrators, and patients' rights advocates.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Doctor-patient interaction

2. The clinical transaction

3. Interpersonal influences

4. The influences of past relationships

5. Contextual influences

6. Managing complicated clinical transactions

7. Interventions in complicated clinical transactions

8. Implications for the clinical settings

9. Implications for training

Appendices

Bibliography