[Communication in oncology]

Abstract

Patient-doctor communication is an essential aspect of coping with cancer. In our "age of communication", information and data transfer often is mistaken for communication. Contrary to analogous or digital information transmission, a message received by the patient may widely differ from the message intended by the doctor. For in human communication, nonverbal and emotional contexts may extensively modify the perception, interpretation and processing of information. Moreover, in modern oncology patient-doctor communication is complicated by a growing incongruence between a patient's disease and his illness experience. To achieve satisfying doctor-patient communication, the setting, content and structure have to be directed towards a specific goal. Empirical data show that key elements and skills of efficient patient-doctor communication can be taught and learned.