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Issues in Physician—Elderly Patient Interaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Ronald D. Adelman ,
Michele G. Greene  and
Rita Charont
Ronald D. Adelman
Affiliation:
Chief, Division of Geriatrics, Winthrop-University Hospital; Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Mineola, New York 11501, USA.
Michele G. Greene
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Department of Health and Nutrition Sciences, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York 11210, USA.
Rita Charont
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Faculty Scholar in General Internal Medicine, Division of General Medicine, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
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Extract

The basis of an effective and satisfactory physician–patient relationship is found in the communication which occurs between these two individuals. By studying the interaction, we can learn much about the identities of the physician and patient, and how they view each other and the world. The interactional dynamics between physician and patient are unique. For example, even in initial medical encounters which involve the meeting of two strangers, patients and physicians deal with concerns as diverse as life and death as well as other intimate or personal issues. Researchers of physician–patient interaction seek to discover how communication evolves and how that communication reveals the multiple levels of meaning in the medical encounter.

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 1991 , pp. 127 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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References

NOTES

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