Objective: To determine whether supervision and self-assessment activities can improve doctor-patient communication.
Setting and participants: Six supervisors, 60 doctors in their last year of training, and 232 primary health care patients at rural health clinics in Michoacan, Mexico.
Design: The main evaluation compared post-intervention measures in control and intervention groups. A small panel study also examined changes from baseline to post-intervention rounds in both groups.
Intervention: Over a 4-month period, specially trained supervisors added 1 hour of supervision on interpersonal communication and counseling (IPC/C) to regular site visits. Doctors, who had received prior IPC/C training, periodically audiotaped and assessed their own consultations.
Main outcome measures: These comprised frequency of doctors' facilitative communication, doctors' biomedical information-giving, and patients' active communication.
Results: The performance of all doctors improved markedly over the study period, but gains in facilitative communication and information-giving were significantly greater in the intervention than the control group. No single component of the intervention was responsible for the improvement; it resulted from the combination of activities. The doctors appreciated the more supportive relationship with supervisors that resulted from the intervention and found listening to themselves on audiotape a powerful, although initially stressful, experience.
Conclusion: Supportive supervision and self-assessment activities can reinforce IPC/C training, prompt reflection and learning, and help novice doctors improve their interpersonal communication skills.