New Insight into the Role of Patients During Medical Appointments: A Synthesis of Three Qualitative Studies

BACKGROUND: The complexity of the doctor-patient relationship requires in-depth research to enable a better understanding of the nature of the doctor’s appointment. OBJECTIVE: To explore how patients can facilitate their medical appointments, and how they can be responsible for their relationship with their doctors. METHODS: A synthesis of our previous three qualitative studies of doctor-patient relationships focussed on the consultations. The analysis involved three qualitative studies based on in-depth interviews with 94 patients of family doctors in Poland. RESULTS: A detailed analysis of these data allowed us to distinguish several different ways in which patients participate in medical consultation, namely: 1. facilitating the visit; 2. having an impact on both patient and doctor perception of satisfaction with the visit; and 3. showing concern for the doctor, understanding the doctor’s situation and having empathy. CONCLUSION: This study concerning patient-doctor interactions shows that each participant can explicitly provide emotional support for the other, despite the evident asymmetry in the roles of doctor and patient. Patients can substantially contribute to the personalisation of their relationship with the doctor, which is often facilitated by the repetition and regularity of the interaction.