Te has encontrado con pacientes escépticos. ¿Cómo puede ganarse su confianza en la atención médica?

- Give the skeptical patient your full attention. - Reflect on their concerns and clarify misunderstandings. - Show that you value their input and understand their perspective. - Create a safe environment for open communication by acknowledging their feelings without judgment.

Listen to the patient, even if you do not agree with their points. Summarise their key points to ensure you understand. Even if you encounter a stubborn patient who is unlikely to change their views after 1 conversation, remain non judgmental.

- Be patient and empathetic, remembering that medicine can be very technical and overwhelming - Acknowledge the skepticism, do not be dismissive, sometimes, if appropriate and true, I'd say "if I were in your position, I would have many questions and doubts myself" - Gently explore any mis or incomplete understandings - Ask if there are any questions - A handful of times, I've even proactively offered to prepare lab and imaging results for the patient to take elsewhere to seek a second opinion

- Sharing sucess stories of other patients or even personally can help patients relax and create buy in - When needed, taking a few minutes to talk about something non-medical e.g. about their kids or pets, can help relieve tension and stress so that patients can re-focus on their health

- Approach with empathy and use clear, non-condescending language. - Explain procedures, risks, and benefits comprehensively. - Empower patients to make informed decisions about their health. - Help patients understand the reasons behind your recommendations to build trust.

- Use analogies e.g. doing spiro for the lungs is like doing an ECG for the heart - Grab a sheet of paper and draw pictures: this is good for explaining procedures - Plot graphs when necessary e.g. the correlation b/n smoking and loss of lung function - Use the internet or google... e.g. to show different medical devices or types of inhalers

- Patient's appreciate gentle honesty, even when the news or statistics are poor - Never dismiss a patient's concerns, validate them - I will often pull up images and lab results and walk patients through their own data - Print copies of results for patients to take home and share with theif family and other doctors

- Maintain consistency in your actions and information. - Provide predictable follow-up and reliable advice. - Help patients feel secure in the care they receive. - Build trust gradually by demonstrating reliability and consistency.

- Know your stuff; keep up to date - Say what you mean, mean what you say - Follow through - if you say you will call pack a patient, then be sure to call back