Reviews and Notes: Making the Patient Your Partner: Communication Skills for Doctors and Other Caregivers

T Gordon and WS Edwards. 213 pages. Westport, CT: Auburn House; 1995. $49.95. ISBN 0865692556. Order phone 800-225-5800.

The past decade has brought increased research on and writing about communication between physicians and patients. For the interested, innumerable journal articles, a shelf full of texts, and various workshops and courses are available. To these resources is added this new book by Gordon and Edwards. I approached this text wondering whether it would improve on or add to what is already available. When I had finished it, I wanted to read more of the authors' works and was eager to try some of the specific techniques described.

Drawing on the work of renowned psychotherapist Carl Rogers and using techniques that one of the authors has previously applied in parent effectiveness-training courses, the authors suggest ways in which health care providers can improve skills in such areas as active listening, identifying and overcoming barriers to communication, dealing with conflicts with patients, and helping persons with terminal illnesses. The book is well organized and can be read quickly, and a busy professional can take away new ideas or expand on existing skills after a relatively small time investment. The book also includes a concise list of some of the best resources available for health care workers who want more training in communication skills.

The book has some minor annoyances. Medical jargon is used superficially, perhaps because the authors are trying to reach many types of health professionals. A chapter on working with patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome seems dated. Changing back and forth among the voices of the two authors and of the patients and health care professionals in the case studies is difficult at times. Two larger shortcomings are that few suggestions are offered on practicing the techniques described before entering the examination room and that the particular problems raised by practicing in a health maintenance organization are not addressed.

Despite these flaws, the book is an easy-to-read summary of an approach to communicating with patients. It can reinvigorate physicians who already believe that the physician–patient relationship is a powerful tool, and it can inspire those who seek more collaboration with patients.

• Copyright ©2004 by the American College of Physicians